MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gold, silver, platinum soar on fears of growing inflation

Silver reached a 30 year record this week

Gold rose Thursday to a one-month high as rising consumer prices in United States and the UK boosted investor demand for an inflation hedge. Silver touched a 30-year high.

The cost of living in the US climbed in January for a seventh month, the government announced. The U.K. consumer- price index rose to a 26-month high last month, a report this week showed. The precious metal has fallen 2.6% this year after rallying 30% in 2010 and touching a record in December.

“Gold is ready to resume its uptrend because of the worsening outlook for inflation,” said James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, which held 1.4 billion USD of precious metals and currencies for investors at the end of January.

Gold futures for April delivery climbed 10 USD, or 0.7%, to 1,375.10 USD an ounce in the Comex and in earlier trading touched 1,385.40 USD, the highest since Jan. 13. The metal reached a record 1,432.50 USD on December 7.

China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea have boosted interest rates as policy makers try to cool the economies leading a global rebound. Singapore raised its inflation forecast to 4% for this year after growth expanded at a record pace last year.

Indian and Chinese jewellery demand climbed to a record last year, the World Gold Council said in a report today. Usage in India advanced 47% in the fourth quarter to 210.5 metric tons, and consumption in China rose 26% to 115.8 tons, the group said.

Silver futures for March delivery rose 94.1 cents, or 3.1%, to 31.57 USD an ounce on the Comex. The metal touched 31.69 USD during after-hours trading, the highest since March 1980. The price has almost doubled in the past year.

Platinum futures for April delivery added 9.70 USD, or 0.5%, to 1,844 USD an ounce, and palladium for March delivery rose 4.65, or 0.6%, to 843 USD an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.