( Reuters ) - Gold closed higher in New York on Monday despite a strengthening dollar and weaker crude oil, as U.S. stocks rallied while platinum rose to a near-record high on robust investment demand.
"Over last month or so, we've gone through periods when gold and stock prices were moving together. So, it's entirely possible that we are seeing another influence like that. That wouldn't be surprising at all," said Patrick Fearon, precious metals analyst of A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.
Gold fell in early sessions as the dollar rebounded and crude declined. But the metal recovered as the session went on. Most-active December gold on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $4.10 at $754.10.
Spot gold rallied to $747.65 an ounce, its highest level since January 1980, before easing to $746.80/747.60 by 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), against $742.40/743.20 late in New York on Friday.
The metal has hit new highs four times in less than two weeks.
U.S. stocks jumped, with both the blue-chip benchmark Dow Jones industrial average and broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 index up 1.5 percent.
Frank McGhee, head precious metals trader of Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago, said gold was undergoing consolidation early on Monday.
"The one potential negative is that there is not a lot of physical, industrial gold moving," McGhee said.