Gold edged closer to $1,000 an ounce on Wednesday as more people sought safety in the yellow metal as a store of value. Other commodities from oil to grains were pressured by a weak economy and strong dollar, however.
"We believe this is purely a flight to safety, with people desperate to put their money somewhere they can get liquidity and get their money back," said Daniel Smith, analyst at London's Standard Chartered, referring to gold.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a broad commodities gauge, was down 1.4 percent as markets outside of gold like oil, soybeans and cocoa extended Tuesday's sell-off.
Copper, the main industrial metal, rose 1 percent in US trade but aluminium slumped to six-year lows in London.
