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• Gold managed to not only escape the December bear market but also end the year on a very bullish note, posting a monthly rise of 1.64% and a yearly advance of 12.67% - its best annual performance since 2010.

• February Comex gold was trading at $1,309.00, up 0.91% on the day, just before the market settled for the very last time in 2017. The quiet trading week allowed technical considerations to dominate gold and silver prices, according to Kitco’s senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff.

• The $1,300 an ounce price target will remain the metal’s key psychological level in the New Year, according to analysts.

“Look for continued steady gold over the 200-day moving averages and as gold is under invested. If we close over $1,300 more asset allocators joining the long side,” said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. “Gold is still much about the dollar weakness, bonds -- ten-year [yields] not moving after rate hike -- and tax season in full swing.”

• Gold has extended its rally into the new year, touching late September highs on a softer US dollar, while spot palladium jumped to a record on fears of short supplies after soaring 57 per cent in 2017.

• Spot gold was up 1 per cent at $US1,315.11 per ounce at 2.36 pm EST (0636 Wednesday AEDT) after hitting $US1,315.46, the highest since September 20, 2017.

• Gold has risen each trading session since December 15. US gold futures for February delivery settled up $US6.80, or 0.52 per cent, at $US1,316.10 per ounce.

• On a technical basis, there is solid support for gold at $1300 per ounce, with minor support at $1315. Chart analysis also indicates that there could be some potential resistance at $1335 and major resistance at $1362, last year’s high.

• "(Gold's) rally has been part and parcel with the weaker dollar," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Seattle.

"The tax plan seems to have changed the tenor and trend of the market," he added, referring to the Republican tax overhaul expected to balloon the US budget deficit.

• Technical analysts warned that gold's rally is looking overdone.

Key factors for the bullion market this year will be how quickly central banks normalise interest rates, how much further the equities rally goes, the longer-term impact of US tax reforms, and when inflation will pick up, Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said.

• Palladium jumped 3.12 per cent to $US1,094.10 per ounce. Prices rose to $US1,096.50, surpassing a previous record set in January 2001.

• Palladium was the stand-out performer among major precious metals last year, jumping 57 per cent to hit a series of multi-year highs.

• "Palladium continues to rally on real demand and supply tightness," Miguel Perez-Santalla, vice president of Heraeus Metal Management in New York, said in a market note.

• Among other precious metals, spot silver was up 1.4 per cent at $US17.184. Platinum was 1.70 per cent higher at $US941.50 per ounce.

Reference: Business News, Kitco, Scrapregister