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Precious Metals On the Rise

Gold rose above $500 an ounce in Asia for the first time since December 1987, according to market reports. Spot gold was quoted at $502.00/502.75 an ounce in morning trade, up from $498.20/499.00 an ounce last quoted in New York on Monday. Gold was trading at its highest since December 14, 1987, when it hit $502.97 an ounce.

"Now that we`ve seen that magical number, we might see some selling. Also, the long speculative interest has increased in New York, so there`s always that liquidation fear," according to a dealer in Singapore.

Spot platinum was quoted at $999/1,003 an ounce, up from $989/993 an ounce last quoted in New York. Dealers believe that worries about inflation and geopolitical tension had encouraged fund managers to shift into precious metals as an alternative investment.