US gold futures settled on Tuesday near its new all time high above $1,311 an ounce driven up as three reports argued for further quantitative easing by central banks that drove the euro up against the dollar and set off stop-loss buy orders in both markets, traders said. COMEX December gold futures closed up $9.70 at $1,308.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
Range ran from $1,276.20 to $1,311.80, a record high. COMEX estimated final gold volume at 208,540 lots, nearly double the 30-day average, according to COMEX data. Gold volume was heaviest in 2 months - COMEX data. Most significant for gold would be the dilutive effect on the dollar if the Fed did embark on further measures to inject liquidity into the US money market, said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto.
Several analysts targeted downside levels ranging from $1,246 to $1,268 per ounce. Billionaire financier George Soros repeated his warning that gold is locked in the "ultimate bubble". He was repeating a warning issued in February. But there is no end in sight for gold's bull run and anyone who shorted gold in February would be sitting on huge losses.
By 2:45 pm EDT (1845 GMT), spot gold was higher at $1,306.85 an ounce than the prior closing bid at $1,296.05 an ounce. Spot gold also rallied to a fresh high at $1,310.10 at the New York midday. COMEX December silver raced up 23.60 cents to settle at $21.7070 an ounce, bought in sympathy with gold. Higher range spanned $21.06 to $21.7750 an ounce, the contract's highest since March 2008. COMEX estimated final volume at 54,348 lots, over 30 percent greater than average for the last month. Spot silver jumped to $21.72 in late New York dealings from $21.38 previously.
NYMEX October platinum closed $5.60 higher at $1,635.70 an ounce. Spot platinum rallied to $1,634 an ounce, up from Monday's close at $1,627.35 a tonne. NYMEX December palladium finished with $8.25 gains at $560.45 an ounce, rising with platinum. Spot palladium increased to $561.0 an ounce from $548.68 an ounce late on Monday.