CHICAGO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange closed higher for the last session of 2009 on Thursday, seeing the ninth consecutive annual gain. Silver and platinum both rose.

    The most active gold contract for February delivery gained 3.70U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent, to finish at 1,096.20 dollars an ounce.

    Dollar softened against most rival major currencies, pressured by year-end position squaring. The dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against six other major currencies, dropped to an intraday low of 77.41 earlier in the session, helping the precious metal climb to as high as 1,107.60 dollars.

    The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week. The Labor Department said that new claims for unemployment insurance fell by22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 432,000, the lowest since July 2008 and much better than economists' expectations.

    The bullish job data boosted dollar, which pressured gold to give up some gains.

    March silver was up 4.3 cents to 16.845 dollars per ounce. April platinum rose 7.70 dollars to 1,471 dollars an ounce.