Gold jumped to a three-month high on Wednesday, reversing early losses after bullish technical factors triggered fund buying, and platinum prices hit their highest in five months on supply worries. Platinum outperformed gold's 1 percent gain, rallying 2 percent on the prospect of shortage driven by a labour dispute in South Africa, the world's top platinum producer.
Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,777.98 an ounce by 3:13 pm EST (2013 GMT), having earlier hit a three-month high of $1,781.40. US gold futures for April delivery settled up $12.80 an ounce at $1,771.30, with trading volume largely in line with its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Meanwhile, platinum prices rallied to a five-month high at $1,723.50 an ounce, lifted by ongoing labour unrest at one of the world's biggest platinum mine Rustenburg in South Africa owned by Implats Platinum. Spot platinum was up 2.1 percent at $1,719.77 an ounce. Among other precious metals, silver was up 0. 2 percent at $34. 35 an ounce , spot palladium was up 1. 3 percent at $71 7 an ounce.