Platinum pushed above $900 in Hong Kong and held above the mark all day, ending at $911/0z., up $20. Overnight, platinum has slipped lower.

Silver was in positive territory from overseas trading to the New York open, at which point it went vertical in the first half-hour, pushing past $11 to just above $11.20, but then fell sharply through the rest of the Comex before adding back a little on the Globex to close at $10.86/oz., up 20 cents. Overnight, silver is trending lower. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals started off the post-Christmas week in strong fashion, as gold especially gained off of its safe haven status in the midst of turmoil in Israel/Gaza and a looming showdown between Pakistan and India.

With Israelis massing tanks near the Gaza strip and calling up reservists, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak calling the action a war against Hamas, Kitco’s Jon Nadler commented that, “When a state of virtual or actual war is at hand, the world’s worried masses tend to turn to [gold,] the metal of ages.”

But all the metals gave back chunks of their early gains.

“The unfortunate circumstances in Israel and the Gaza Strip gave an early supportive role to the [metals] complex; however, these gains were slowly eroded through the day as the markets drifted on lackadaisical volumes,” wrote commodity analysts at Sucden Financial Research.

Trading is certain to remain thin as many traders take another week off or at least man their desks for only few days before the New Year’s break.

However, the bullish case continues to build.

“Aside from geopolitics, gold and oil are also boosted by a return to broadening U.S. dollar weakness, especially in the aftermath of last week’s jobless claims and personal consumption reports,” wrote Ashraf Laidi, of CMC Markets.

Source: Gold continues to push higher - Safe haven sought as international tensions increase