Gold prices rose on Wednesday on crude oil's gains amid rising geopolitical tension in the Middle East, and traders continued to focus on how the United States can avoid a debilitating fiscal crisis at the end of the year. Spot gold edged down 43 cents to $1,724.46 an ounce by 3:09 PM EST (2009 GMT), pressured by a 1 percent drop on Wall Street late in the session.
US COMEX gold futures for December delivery settled up $5.30 at $1,730.10, with trading volume about 30 percent below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Silver rose 0.4 percent to $32.60 an ounce. Platinum climbed to $1,597.50, its strongest performance since October 23, and later was up 75 cents at $1,581.50. Palladium hit a session high of $647.22, its strongest since October 18. It was last up 0.4 percent at $635.47 for the day.