Gold surged to a record high above $876 per ounce this afternoon as investors poured into the market.
Spot gold sprinted to a record $876.40 an ounce, surpassing the historic high of $869.05 hit last week.
By 13.05pm, bullion stood at $874.60/875.30 an ounce, up roughly 1.7 per cent from 859.70/860.40 quoted late in New York yesterday.
Other bullion markets reflected the move in spot gold. The most active February Comex gold futures contract was trading up $14.80, or 1.7 per cent, at $876.80 in electronic activity from the New York settlement.
In Tokyo, the key December 2008 gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended at 3,097 yen a gram, up 53 yen or 1.7 per cent from Monday's close of 3,044 yen.
Traders and analysts said gold and other commodity prices had found support so far in January from fund reallocation cash, with pension funds and other long-term investors having pumped an estimated more than $100 billion into commodities over the past five years.
Traders also noted buying interest ahead of the launch of the Shanghai gold futures contract.