NEW YORK: Gold prices bounded higher Thursday, nearing the US$1,000 mark for the first time since February.
Other metals followed gold higher. Energy futures wavered, while grains slipped. Gold for December delivery jumped $19.20, or 2 percent, to $997.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier hitting a six-month high of $999.50.
Prices have added about $44, or 4.6 percent, over the past three days, breaking free from two months of wayward trading between $930 and $970 an ounce.
Silver prices, which have trailed gold this year, got a boost as well.
December silver soared 6 percent, rising 92.5 cents to $16.29 an ounce, after earlier hitting $16.31, its highest point since August 2008.
Silver prices have surged more than $2, or 14 percent, in just five days.
Analysts say a number of bullish factors have converged to benefit gold, and are likely to take it past the $1,000 mark in coming days.
The surge in gold is a sign of how jittery investors have become.
The rise this week coincided with a pullback in stocks as investors worry that a six-month rally of as much as 50 percent has overshot the economy's recovery.
Stocks drifted Thursday after posting four days of losses.
At the same time, September is historically a strong month for gold, partly because it precedes the wedding season in India, when jewelry demand typically picks up.
Technical factors are also driving the advance and momentum has been building as the metal manages to hold above its previous trading range.
"This is telling you that the bull case for equities that a lot of people have been skeptical about has run it's course and a lot of people are putting more money in gold to balance their portfolios," said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a futures brokerage.
Klopfenstein also said trading volume was light ahead of the long Labor Day weekend, which can exaggerate moves in the market.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, October platinum rose $23.70 to $1,253.80 an ounce. Palladium rose 1.8 percent.
December copper futures rose 3.9 cents to $2.8650 a pound.
Oil prices wavered throughout the day, mirroring the seesaw trade in stocks.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell 9 cents to settle at $67.96 a barrel on the Nymex.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery lost 1.58 cents to settle at $1.7928 a gallon and heating oil fell by 1.55 cents to settle at $1.735 a gallon.
Natural gas lost 20.7 cents to settle at $2.508 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Prices dropped as low as $2.50 per 1,000 cubic feet, the lowest since March 2002, after the government reported that supplies grew again last week and are now nearly 18 percent above the five-year average.
Grain prices posted modest losses on the Chicago Board of Trade.
December wheat futures shed 7 cents to $4.7875 a bushel, while December corn lost 3.5 cents to $3.1575 a bushel.
November soybeans fell 9.5 cents to $9.4150 a bushel.
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