Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to another record high on Wednesday on tumbling dollar, heading for the key level of US$1,200. Silver and platinum both rallied.

The most active gold contract for December delivery rose US$21.20, or 2 percent, to finish at the all-time high of US$1,187 an ounce.

The dollar dropped sharply to a new 15-month low as investors preferred high-risk currencies on bullish US economic reports, as well as the expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep the key interest rate at a record low level near zero.

The Labor Department reported the number of first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 35,000 to 466,000, the fewest level since last September and well lower than economists' expectations of 500,000.

In other economic fronts, new home sales in October unexpectedly rose 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 430,000 and consumer spending rose 0.7 percent last month, following a 0.6 percent drop in September.

Weighed by those strong data, the dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against the other major currencies, slumped almost 1 percent to 74.445 in the morning session, hitting the weakest level since August of last year. By the end of gold floor trading time, the index stood at 74.51. The rate against euro also saw a lowest point of US$1.5095 in 15 months.

Weak dollar usually pushes gold higher as investors opt to purchase the precious metal as a hedge against dollar's depreciation.

Central banks' gold purchase from the International Monetary Fund provided additional support to the yellow metal. IMF announced on Wednesday the sale of 10 metric tons of gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

December silver was up 31.3 cents to US$18.768 per ounce. January platinum rose US$35.70 to US$1,479.50 an ounce.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2009)