Gold rose further on Thursday on safe-haven buying as oil continued its ascent and on a sliding dollar.
'Gold is still capped by the big resistance at $837, and above at $846. I don't think much would happen ahead of the US long holiday weekend,' said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scotia Mocatta in Hong Kong, referring to Monday's Labor Day holiday.
Physical buying ahead of the festive season in Asia has helped gold rebound more than 7 percent since tumbling to nine-month lows around $773 an ounce in mid-August.
Gold firmed to $831.30/832.30 an ounce from $826.05/827.45 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, when it gained more than $3 an ounce.
Oil rose for afourth straight session to stay above $118 a barrel on Thursday on concerns Tropical Storm Gustav will intensify into amajor hurricane as it moves towards energy facilities in the Gulfof Mexico.
'Perhaps oil could lead gold higher here, and on the oil side, I think Gustav is something we should watch. For the dollar, we will probably have to focus on tonight's US GDP data for direction,' said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Higher gold prices spurred speculative buying in platinum but investors remained cautious after the metal sank to an 11-month low around $1,296 last week. Automakers were also on the sidelines.
'Platinum seems to be edging higher, but I don't think we are clearly out of the downside yet,' said Koh of Phillip Futures.
'If platinum can clear the $1,450 level and perhaps make a move to the $1,500 level, then that scenario may change a little.'
The bulk of the world's platinum is used by automakers in autocatalyst systems that scrub exhaust fumes of dangerous and environmentally damaging chemicals. Platinum prices are well below a lifetime high of $2,290 hit in early March.
Spot palladium inched down to $287.50/295.50 an ounce from $288.50/296.50 an ounce. Silver firmed to $13.60/13.66 an ounce from $13.49/13.55 an ounce late in New York.
The new benchmark contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, August 2009 rose 14 yen per gram to 2,944 yen per gram. New York gold futures added $3.2 an ounce to $837.20. -Reuters