Gold rose above $930 on Tuesday as firming oil prices burnished the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation, while weak stock markets encouraged some speculators to shift some of their money back to bullion.
Other precious metals also gained, but investors were careful about buying too much ahead of the release of US economic reports expected to give clues to future monetary policy moves by the Federal Reserve.Gold rose to $931.10/932.10 an ounce from $928.45/929.65 late in New York on Monday, when it rose more than $1 as oil advanced after the main militant group in Nigeria's Delta region said it had attacked two Royal Dutch Shell pipelines.
Spot platinum hit its highest level in almost a week at $1,775 an ounce, up from $1,763.00/1,783.00 late in New York. Gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $3.3 to $931.00 an ounce.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 5 yen per gram to 3,249 yen. Spot palladium rose to $388.00/396.00 an ounce from $385.50/393.50 late in New York. Silver edged up to $17.55/17.61 an ounce from $17.46/17.52 late in New York.