Precious metals gain on weaker dollar

Metals prices were higher Friday as the US dollar weakened versus the euro, leading investors to look for places to put their money so that it is protected from inflation.

December gold added $19 to $764.50 per troy ounce while December silver was up 24 cents to $10.80 per troy ounce and October platinum jumped $58.30 to $1,210.50 per troy ounce.

Earlier, in mid-morning trade, palladium had added $4.50 to $230.20 per troy ounce.

Base metals also saw gains on the lower dollar, despite continuing worries that demand will suffer in global markets.

December copper added 7 cents to $3.19 per pound in New York while three-month copper was up $192 to $7,122 per tonne in London even as London Metal Exchange stockpiles grew to above 203,000 tonnes on the session.

Copper prices, however, are still down about 20 percent from their July peak.

Zinc added $11 to $1,885 per tonne while aluminium was up $35 to $2,655 per tonne, lead was $90 higher to $1,940 per tonne, tin jumped $700 to $19.450 per tonne and nickel gained $750 to $19,250 per tonne.