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London: Gold extended gains on Monday to hit a near one-month peak above $900 an ounce on the back of speculative buying as oil hovered around its record high, fanning fears of inflation.
Platinum tracked gold's gains and jumped to its highest level in more than two months ahead of a supply and demand report by precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey before
retreating as speculators booked profits.
Johnson Matthey said platinum may spike to a record high of $2,500 an ounce this year and the market is expected to close 2008 in a significant deficit due to production shortfalls and strong metal demand.
Spot gold hit a high of $913.35 an ounce, its highest level since April 23, up from $899.55/900.95 late in New York on Friday but remained below a lifetime high of $1,130.80 hit on March 17.
Previous attempts to revisit the record high have been met by heavy profit taking, which saw gold fall to a four-month low of $845 an ounce in early May.
"Whether gold will hold above $900 is a difficult question.
Around about $920 should be the psychological resistance for the metal," said Walter De Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank.
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