5:00AM Gold rose to 8-week high Wednesday, as the dollar softened.
December gold ended at $619.30 an ounce, up $12.50, after peaking at $619.70 Wednesday at the NYME. December silver futures moved 20.5 cents higher at $12.475 an ounce. January platinum advanced $14.20 to close at $1,100.70 an ounce. December palladium ended $1.40 up at $324.10 an ounce. December copper contract plunged 10.45 cents to settle at $3.2410 per pound

December crude oil futures declined 2 cents to finish at $58.71 a barrel. December heating oil futures settled down 1.55 cents to $1.6515 a gallon. December gasoline closed 3.57 cents higher at $1.4630 a gallon. December natural gas gained 17.8 cents to end at $7.712 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed 0.40 cent higher at $1.0865 a pound. March futures on raw sugar in foreign ports settled 0.05 cent lower at 11.50 cents a pound.