US gold futures climbed on Friday in more subdued trading, bolstered by a $1 jump in oil prices due to tropical storm worries near the US Gulf. A steady US dollar and light, late summer volumes capped interest in many commodities markets, however, and gold ultimately stayed within its recent range, analysts said.
"You don't want to be caught short in gold because now you have - on top of the geopolitical problems, Iran and everything else - Ernesto possibly coming, which is moving the energy markets," said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets Global Futures.
The fifth tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season formed near the Windward Islands in the eastern Caribbean on Thursday. TD5 could soon become Tropical Storm Ernesto, weather services said. Gold is seen as a safe haven asset during turbulent times, and investors sometimes use gold as a hedge to guard against inflation when oil prices are high.
By 10:24 am EDT, December delivery gold rose $1.20 to $629.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing from $626.80 to $633.50. Dealers pared back positions taken earlier in the session after gains in Asian trading hours, as comments from the US Federal Reserve chief avoided the topics of economic or interest rate outlooks.
Chairman Ben Bernanke focused instead on globalisation in his speech at a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Gero said that short-covering in gold by midmorning had turned to position squaring ahead of the weekend. Technical resistance in COMEX December gold looms up at $650 and support was down at $610, he added. Spot gold eased to $619.90/621.40 an ounce, from Thursday's last New York price at $620.30/1.05. Friday's afternoon fix in London reached $621.25.
COMEX September silver rose 2.0 cents to $12.33 an ounce, in a range of $12.20 to $12.4450. Spot silver inched up 1.0 cent to $12.28/12.38. Friday's fix was lower at $12.40. NYMEX October platinum fell $7.70 to $1,230 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $1,216/22. September palladium climbed 55 cents to $345 an ounce. Spot palladium rose $1 to $343/348.