Gold rose to a two-month high on Thursday on a larger-than-expected fall in new US claims for unemployment benefits, but analysts said bullion could pull back if Friday's US jobs report disappoints. Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,755.80 an ounce by 2:07 pm (1907 GMT), having earlier peaked at $1,760.70, its loftiest since December 2.
US gold futures for April delivery settled up $9.80 an ounce at $1,759.30. Trading volume was about 20 percent below its 30-day average but largely in line with recent pace. Silver was up 1.6 percent at $34.23 an ounce. Spot platinum was up 0.8 percent at $1,624.49 an ounce, while spot palladium was up 1.5 percent at $704.47 an ounce. Platinum has outperformed gold so far this year, rising 16 percent since the end of December.