COMEX gold stayed at 7-and-a-half year highs in heavy, volatile trading on worries about the dollar and US troubles in Iraq.
December gold settled up US$3.70 at US$398.00 an ounce.
Commodity trading advisors and other funds have been buying heavily, and many just want to see US$400 flash on the board for the first time since March 1996.
Silver rode gold's coattails to US$5.415 an ounce, its highest level in more than 3 years.
The dollar tumbled to a 3-week low against the euro after the mixed economic signals.
The euro was up 0.37 percent on the day at US$1.1770. But against the yen, the dollar rose 0.19 percent to ¥108.36.
NYMEX crude oil futures ended near 5-week highs, extending gains for a sixth straight session, as a steady flow of fund buying continued, a day after government data showed a small drop in US crude stocks last week.
NYMEX December crude settled 47 cents higher at US$32.37 a barrel.
In London, stocks closed at their highest level in 14 months, encouraged by US economic data and drug stocks. The FTSE 100 index finished higher for a fourth straight day, up 24 points, or 0.5 percent, at 4,397.0.
But in Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei average closed at a 3-month low, down 1.65 percent at 10,167.06.
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