Gold rose for a fourth day on Monday, buoyed by a weaker dollar, rising oil prices and investor jitters surrounding air strikes by Western powers on Libya and Japan's struggle to avert nuclear disaster. Gold trimmed early gains, following oil, but the metal stayed within a whisker of its record $1,444.40 an ounce set on March 7.
Gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,427.95 an ounce by 3:39 pm EDT (2039 GMT), while most-active US April futures settled up 0.7 percent at $1,426.40. Spot silver climbed 3.2 percent to $36.16 an ounce, within striking distance to its 31-year high of $36.70, making it the top gainer in the precious metals complex. Among platinum group metals, spot platinum gained 1.4 percent to $1,742.24. Spot palladium rose 1.9 percent at $741.72 an ounce.