Gold prices sharply higher on inflation concerns, short covering

CHICAGO, Nov. 14 (Chinese media) -- Precious metals closed sharply higher Friday

in the New York Mercantile Exchange due to short covering, technical buying and

inflation concerns.

Gold futures for December delivery rose 37.50 U.S. dollars, or 5.3 percent,

to 742.50 dollars an ounce. December silver jumped 69cents to 9.49 dollars per

ounce. January platinum rose 32.10 dollars, closed at 845.10 dollars per ounce.

The bulk of the gains started from Thursday afternoon after the trading

floor closed in reaction to the big turnaround of the stock market. The Dow

Jones index gained 552 points after plunging under 8,000 points for the session

on Thursday.

On recession concerns, the gold prices recently are tracking the stock

market in order to make their own directions.

The overnight big rally of gold in electronic trading Thursday motivated

short covering and technical buying, which sharply pushed up the gold for the

session Friday according to the traders and analysts.

What's more, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday there are

tentative improvements in the credit markets, and the United States and the

other countries are ready to take more actions to boost lending markets, which

stoked concerns over inflation and boosted demand for the precious metal.