Gold was only marginally higher from Hong Kong through to mid-morning in New York on Thursday, but then it suddenly went vertical until the noon hour, tacking on almost $15 before easing a bit through the Globex to finish at $903.80/oz., up $13.10. Overnight, gold is pushing higher.

Platinum bottomed late in the Hong Kong session, then was up sharply adding about $20 over a two-hour period, then traded wildly up and down the rest of the day but never quite regaining its peak, and ending at $1179/oz., up $10. Overnight, platinum is little changed.

Silver followed gold’s chart exactly, but with an even steeper blastoff that carried it nearly to $12.90 before a slight late-day slump led to a close at $12.82/oz., up 50 cents. Overnight, silver has been flat. (Click here for charts)

It was a very good day for the precious metals yesterday, with silver turning in an especially strong showing, up 4%. There was some support offered by the usual suspects, as oil was up slightly and the dollar weakened against the euro, while equities finished a volatile day just into the green.

Gold’s close above $900 was its first such in almost three weeks.

Dan Norcini, writing on jsmineset.com: “Gold put on a very impressive breach of upside resistance in today’s session as bulls were finally able to shove prices high enough to reach the bevy of buy stops that had been building above the $902 level basis June …

“I am not sure what the catalyst was [yesterday] that provided the impetus to push prices higher other than the fact that the Dollar was down and most of the commodity markets were higher, a few markets excepted. Equities were struggling and that might have been generating some further safe haven flows but normally on days in which stocks are weak, we have been seeing the Dollar move higher. That was not the case [yesterday] however. Regardless, the buying was impressive … and could spur some further short covering heading into the weekend [on Friday].”

The metals are definitely getting a good look for their safe haven properties, especially after the IMF’s gloomy projections Wednesday. IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said at a briefing in Washington that while a recovery will start early next year, a “return to normal” will take much longer. “This is not the time for complacency,” Blanchard said.

Gold will likely also get a boost from an increase in jewelry demand. Gold imports by India, the largest consumer, are poised to double this month from a year ago as the drop in prices revives demand before the nation’s biggest bullion festival next week, according to the Bombay Bullion Association.

Source: Gold, Platinum Push Higher