By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold and other metals futures rallied Monday, getting a boost from soaring oil prices and President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of massive new infrastructure investment to buoy the U.S. economy. Silver futures soared more than 8% and copper prices rallied 9%. Gold for February delivery vaulted $27.70, or 4%, to $779.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $781.20 an ounce. Over the weekend, Obama said he wants to create millions of jobs by "making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s." In his radio address Saturday, Obama said he's asked his economic team to develop a recovery plan that will "help save or create at least 2.5 million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars." Read more. On Wall Street, U.S. stock-market futures on Monday pointed to an extension of the previous session's rally, rising after lawmakers reportedly agreed on the outline of a deal to rescue the auto industry. See Indications. "Metal prices are higher on account of a short-covering bounce from extremely oversold conditions and on positive sentiment emanating from weekend news that a deal with Detroit's automakers might be imminent," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global, in a research note. Last week, gold prices finished the week down 8.2%, the first weekly loss since the week ended Oct. 31. Also on the Globex Monday, March silver futures rallied 82 cents, or 9%, to $10.24 an ounce and January platinum futures rose $61.80, or 8%, to $849 an ounce. March palladium futures gained $19.30, or 12%, to $182 an ounce and March copper futures rose 12 cents, or 9%, to $1.50 a pound.

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