Gold futures in New York raced to a six-week high early on Thursday, breaking through key short-term resistance, as a weak dollar and soaring crude oil attracted investors to hard assets like the precious metals.
At 10:13 am EDT, gold for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up $4.60 at $446.60 an ounce. The session range by midmorning ran from $442.10 to $446.80 - a level not seen since June 28. Widespread fund and dealer buying shoved gold through the $445 mark and prices then stretched higher before commission-house selling capped the rise.
Gold also drew support from simmering geopolitical tensions amid the ongoing violence in Iraq as well as Iran's resumption of atomic work at an Iranian uranium conversion plant this week, said trading sources.
Next resistance in COMEX December gold was pinpointed at $447.50 to $448 an ounce, followed by $450 and $456.
The market now was awaiting Friday's US data on international trade for a sign of further direction in currencies and precious metals, said traders and analysts.
Bullion also shot to six-week high Thursday, at $441.10 a troy ounce, buoyed by weakness in the dollar.
Spot gold last brought $440.60/441.40, way above Wednesday's New York close at $437.10/437.90.
COMEX September silver rose 7.2 cents to $7.15 an ounce, dealing from $7.085 to 7.175 - a three-day high. Spot silver reached $7.11/14, from $7.07/10 previously.
In the NYMEX metals, October platinum gained $8.40 to $915.90 an ounce, hovering at its strongest price since last Friday. Spot platinum fetched $909/914 an ounce. September palladium was up 30 cents at $188 an ounce. Spot traded at $185/190.