Precious Metals

Gold was flat until the beginning of the London session, then shot higher until just after the New York open on Thursday, peaking at $925, after which it eased through the rest of the day, finishing at $914.50/oz., up $8.60. Overnight, gold has been flat.

Platinum followed a very similar path to gold, ending at $974/oz., up $9. Overnight, platinum has pushed higher.

Silver also jumped from the London to the New York open, but it leveled off there until near the Comex close, when it rallied again, finally closing at $12.90/oz., up 36 cents. Overnight, silver has edged lower. (Click here for charts)

If was a pretty strong day for the precious metals, especially considering that the dollar was only marginally lower against the euro, but oil and equities both turned higher as the day wore on.

Gold is in fact not only moving contrary to stocks, up 3% in 2009 vs. a 6% decline in the S&P 500, but also against the broader commodities markets, with the Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodities index off 5% loss on the year.

The revolt against currencies that we’ve been expecting seems to be coming to pass.

“Safe-haven buying interest [is] prevalent,” says Peter Grant, senior metals analyst at USAGold. With central banks around the world cutting interest rates, it “seems like the world will soon be awash in paper money, and that is very bullish for gold.”

Or, as the ever-astute Peter Spina, of Goldforecaster.com, summarized: “Gold continues to benefit from destructive monetary policies which are being pursued globally. As capital seeks to preserve its purchasing power, currencies once deemed more powerful than gold are now being questioned. The relative size of the gold market compared to global monetary system reveals that only small fractions of this capital looking for safety will significantly boost its value. Gold is returning as the king currency and its scarcity will propel prices significantly higher. Currently record highs from 2008 are back in focus, exceeding these levels will likely ignite another influx of demand which could bring about $1,100 to $1,200 over the coming several months, if not sooner. We will continue to see strong bids on pullbacks.”

Even Goldman Sachs is jumping on the bandwagon. It said on Wednesday that it expects gold to rise to $1,000 an ounce within three months. That’s up 43% from the bank’s previous forecast.