CHICAGO, Oct.13 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to rise on Friday as the key U.S. inflation rate remained low.
The most active gold contract for December delivery went up 8.10 dollars, or 0.62 percent, to close at 1,304.60 dollars per ounce. It's the first time in more than two weeks that the gold price climbed over 1,300-dollar benchmark.
According to official statistics released on Friday, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in September. However, when food and energy were stripped out, the core CPI increased only 0.1 percent, or 1.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.
As the core CPI remained lower than the two percent target set by the U.S. Federal Reserve, it raised uncertainty over the pace of further possible interest rate hikes.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, stayed weak on Friday. It fell 0.01 percent to 93.09 as of 1710 GMT.
Gold typically trades inversely to the U.S. dollar. A weak dollar will usually push gold up.
As for other precious metals, silver for December delivery rose 14.5 cents, or 0.84 percent, to close at 17.411 dollars per ounce. Platinum for next January went up 6.10 dollars, or 0.65 percent, to settle at 947.90 dollars per ounce.
