By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures extended gains during Asian trading hours Wednesday, in line with advances for other precious metals. Benchmark gold futures for February GC2G +0.80% rose 0.3% to $1,637.00 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the futures rose 1.5% to settle at $1,631.50, their highest close since mid-December. Silver for March delivery SI2H +0.94% also rose, gaining 0.2% to $29.86 an ounce, while April platinum PL2J +1.36% jumped 1.2% to $1,481.50 an ounce after a 2.5% rise Tuesday. March Copper HG2H +0.43% , however, slid 0.6% to $3.49 a pound.
