Affected by a weak US dollar, the prices of gold and silver continued to surge up in China on Tuesday, the second trading day in July, but the platinum price dropped slightly.

Information from the Shanghai Gold Exchange showed the price of gold stood at 159.72 yuan (about US$19.7) per gram for top-class gold or au 99.99 gold, up 0.53 yuan per gram from Monday's trading, with 426.2 kg of top-class gold being traded on Tuesday.

The price for the lesser gold or au 99.95 gold also rose by 0.6 yuan per gram to close at 159.6 yuan per gram, with 1,938 kg of gold being changed hands.

Gold under trading deterred category also climbed 0.62 yuan per gram to close at 159.63 yuan, and 2,856 kg of gold were traded during the day.

The rising price for the above-mentioned three kinds of gold traded on Monday ranged from 5.17 yuan per gram, 5 yuan per gram to 4.82 yuan per gram, respectively, from comparable closing figures on June 30.

Also affected by the international market, the spot silver prices continued to soar on the second trading day of the month.

According to the Shanghai Huatong Silver Trading Market, the spot price for top-class silver ranged from 3,135 yuan per kg to 3,145 yuan per kg, 10 yuan higher than that on Monday.

However, the price of top-class platinum dropped 1.82 yuan per gram to close at 324.5 per gram, with 80 kg of platinum being changed hands on Tuesday at the Shanghai Gold Exchange. On Monday, the price of top-class platinum rose by 5.84 yuan from the June 30 level to close at 326.32 yuan per gram.

Shanghai Gold Jewelers Guild had decided to raise the reference price for pure platinum jewellery from 331 yuan per gram to 370 yuan per gram as of Tuesday, according to Xu Wenjun, the guild's secretary-general.

Industry experts predict that the retail price of platinum jewellery made by enterprises in Shanghai will be around 378 yuan per gram.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)