Gold futures climbed from two-week lows on Wednesday morning, as investors turned to the safe-haven metal amid a broad retreat by the dollar due to the closely contested US presidential election. December gold at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division was up $3.90 at $427.70 an ounce at 10:16 am EST (1516 GMT), trading in a range of $419.40 to $426.40.
President George W. Bush's campaign declared victory on Wednesday over Sen. John Kerry and claimed a second term in the White House, but Kerry refused to concede until all ballots were counted in the important undecided state of Ohio.
"We are getting some short-covering coming in here," said Refco metals analyst Tom Boustead, who added that a weaker dollar versus the euro and firmer crude oil attracted buyers to the yellow metal.
Spot gold changed hands at $423.15/423.90, compared with $420.00/420.75 on Tuesday in New York, where bullion had fallen to $416.75 as traders unloaded long positions in the dollar.
Spot gold fixed at $423.50 in the London afternoon.
December silver rose 11.0 cents to $7.13 an ounce, trading from $6.985 to $7.19. Spot silver fetched $7.09/12, up from $6.97/7.00 previously. The fix was at $7.045.
January platinum gained $3.90 to $830.50 an ounce. Spot platinum hit $828.00/833.00. Thinly traded December palladium rose 50 cents to $211 an ounce. Spot palladium fetched $208.00/214.00.