US gold futures climbed on Tuesday morning but held below the 25-year peak reached overnight, though analysts still expected the market to strive for more gains soon thanks to strong investment demand.
Platinum zeroed in on a new all-time high after hitting a new 26-year peak on another rush of the speculative buying that has helped stoke the recent precious metals rally.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, February delivery gold was up 80 cents to $557.80 an ounce by 10:43 am EST, trading from $552.50 to $565.50. The $565.50 session high hit in NYMEX ACCESS electronic trade was the priciest for benchmark futures since January 1981.
Gold bounced at midmorning on a burst of buying after the London PM fix in the bullion market, after profit taking earlier had weighed on the metal at the COMEX open. US markets were shut Monday in honour of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Gold has climbed 7 percent in 2006 after rising 18 percent last year, bolstered by fund and speculator buying and renewed interest in commodities.
Analysts said "safe haven" buying of hard assets like gold amid doubts about the economy and geopolitics has propped up the market this year, in addition to talk that central banks in China or the Middle East also might be adding gold to reserves.
A Reuters poll on Tuesday showed analysts and senior traders expect gold to rise for a fifth year in 2006 to $525, up 18 percent from $445 last year.
Spot gold was quoted at $558.00/558.80 an ounce, compared with $561.60/562.40 at Monday's London close. Tuesday's afternoon fix in London was at $553.25. Estimated volume was 17,000 contracts at 10 am.
In platinum, NYMEX April futures rose 40 cents to $1,044 an ounce, after trading up to $1,059, which put futures in uncharted territory. NYMEX spot January was within sight of its all time high of $1,045, hit in early 1980.
Spot platinum peaked at $1,049 on Tuesday and last was quoted at $1,035/39. March palladium rose 15 cents to $283.84 an ounce. Spot palladium stood at $276/280.
COMEX March silver was up 0.5 cent at $9.17 an ounce, in a range of $9.035 to $9.355. Spot reached $9.09/9.12 an ounce, against $9.20/9.23 late on Monday in London. It was fixed at $9.03.