NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Gold and other precious metals futures rose sharply Friday, propelled by weakness in the U.S. dollar and the latest surge to record highs in crude oil prices, traders and analysts said.
Yet another factor lending support to the precious complex was comments from Israel's deputy prime minister warning that the country would attack Iran if the latter pursues nuclear-weapons programs, a couple of traders said.
A U.S. Defense Department official said there's no change in status that would indicate Israel is preparing military action against Iran, CNBC reported Friday.
An Israeli paper quoted Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying Israel would attack if Iran continues what Mofaz called "its nuclear weapons program." CNBC said the unnamed U.S. official declared that "it would not make sense for Israel to strike Iran." Mofaz is among several Israeli cabinet members said to be eying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's job if he is forced out of office by a corruption scandal.
August gold settled $23.50 higher to $899 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver rose 26 cents to $17.43 an ounce.
Gold drew both fresh speculative buying as well as short covering after the metal hit a three-week low on Thursday.
Meanwhile, July platinum soared $68.80 to settle at $2,081.30 an ounce, and September palladium climbed $6.40 to $433.80.
July copper rose 8 cents to $3.6230 a pound.
In Nymex energy trading, crude oil futures smashed through record after record Friday, springing past $139 a barrel in the biggest single-day jump ever.
Funds barreled into the commodity markets as the dollar plumbed fresh lows and tensions in the Middle East resurfaced - shrugging off worries over U.S. demand for oil.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery leaped $10.75, or 8.4%, to settle at $ 138.54 a barrel. The contracts powered to an all-time high of $139.12 a barrel just after the close.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $10.15 higher at a record $ 137.69 a barrel, after hitting an all-time high of $138.12 a barrel.
July heating oil settled 29.32 cents, or 8%, higher at $3.9740 a gallon. July gasoline climbed 21.35 cents, or 6.4%, to finish at $3.5480 a gallon.
July natural gas futures rose 17.4 cents higher, or 1.39%, to settle at $ 12.693 a million British thermal units. The front-month contract hit a fresh 29- month high of $12.823 in combined electronic and floor trade earlier in the day.
In grains trading, Chicago Board of Trade rice futures were higher Friday in thin trading as commercials continued to buy July, a trader said.
July rice was up 60 cents to $19.96 per hundredweight, September rice was up 6 1/2 cents to $18.60, and December rice was up 13 cents to $18.75.
Wheat futures Friday closed sharply higher for the second consecutive session, with support seen from short-covering, dollar weakness and surging outside markets, analysts said.
CBOT July wheat rose 25 1/2 cents to finish at $8.11 per bushel, up 49 1/2 cents on the week. Kansas City Board of Trade July wheat jumped 32 1/4 cents to $8.46 3/4, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange July wheat climbed 57 1/4 cents to $ 10.27 1/4.
Meanwhile, July soybeans settled 5 1/2 cents higher at $14.57 1/2 a bushel on the CBOT, and November soybeans ended 7 1/2 cents higher at $14.39 1/2. July soymeal settled 50 cents lower at $373.00 per short ton. July soyoil finished 1.69 cents stronger at 64.34 cents per pound.
In corn futures trading, July corn was up 7 1/2 cents to $6.50 3/4 per bushel on the CBOT, September corn was up 7 3/4 cents to $6.63 3/4, and December corn was up 7 cents to $6.77 3/4. Prices closed several cents off the record highs set earlier in the day.
At ICE Futures U.S., July arabica coffee settled 0.05 cent higher at $1.3585 a pound, July world raw sugar futures closed 0.18 cent firmer at 9.74 cents a pound, July cocoa settled $86 stronger at $2,878 a metric ton, and July cotton closed 1.87 cents higher at 66.52 cents a pound.
-By Candace Cumberbatch, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5644; candace.cumberbatch@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 06-06-08 1726 Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
