Gold rose, closing above $US1000 an ounce for the third straight session, as commodities climbed on demand for a hedge against inflation. Silver also gained. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the worst US recession since the 1930s has probably ended, while warning that growth may not be strong enough to reduce unemployment quickly. The Fed has kept its benchmark lending rate as low as zero since December. It authorised $US1.45 trillion in purchases of mortgage-backed securities and other housing debt this year. "The market believes that the Fed is not going to be able to withdraw the funds fast enough and that would cause inflation," said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. "I don’t believe that for a minute, but this is what the market believes." Gold futures for December delivery gained $US5.20, or 0.5 per cent, to $US1006.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On September 11, the metal reached a record closing price of $US1006.40. The price for immediate delivery gained $US6.63, or 0.7 per cent, to $US1006.93 in New York. Eighteen of 19 raw materials in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index rose today, led by a record surge in corn. "The debate on gold’s price prospects remains alive and well among both fundamentals-followers and technicians poring over charts," Jon Nadler, a Kitco Inc senior analyst in Montreal, said in a note. The dollar fell against a basket of six major currencies, extending a slide to the lowest in 11 months. Gold futures have rallied 28 per cent since the demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. a year ago as investors bought precious metals to protect their wealth amid the first global recession since World War II.

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