The rally in gold has gained momentum in recent trading days and the
yellow metal is currently trading at its highest price level since it reached
an all-time high of $850/oz in 1980. Analysts are setting their sights on
$800/oz, which is the next target.

On the COMEX, the nearby December gold contract rose $11.20 to reach a
27-year high of $782.20/oz when it last traded at 10:34 am EDT (1434 GMT).
Following in the footsteps of gold, the December silver contract soared to
$14.22/oz -- up 31.5 cents from Thursday's settlement price.

Helping gold along is the dollar, which is currently trading at
$1.4384/euro, its lowest level against the European currency.

The uptrend in gold is also helping the PGMs, with both platinum and
palladium making significant gains. The nearby January platinum contract on
the NYMEX rose $9.80 to reach $1,463.50/oz and the December palladium contract
has gained $5.50 to reach $375.00/oz.

While the strength in gold is also helping platinum and palladium, the
PGMs have their own strong fundamentals to push them higher. Supply shortfall
is one of the key factors behind the platinum rally, according to trade
sources.

--Ovid Abrams, ovid_abrams@platts.com