5:00AM Gold steadies on Thursday as the dollar falls, platinum rises.
Gold traded in a tight $3-an-ounce range and was quoted at $630.20/631.20 an ounce, little changed from $629.90/630.90 in New York late on Wednesday. On the Shanghai Gold Exchange, platinum gained as much as 1.8% before easing to $1,163/1,178, against $1,145/1,165 an ounce in the U.S. market. Silver was at $13.10/13.17 an ounce, higher from $13.04/13.11 in New York, while palladium was unchanged at $322/327 an ounce.

Copper inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell 14% to 27,141 metric tons, the lowest since June 2, 2005. Aluminum stocks plunged 34% to 17,293 tons. Nickel rose to its highest in at least 19 years in London after a report showed stockpiles may decline, reducing supply of the metal used in stainless steel. Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME gained $1,600, or 5.2%, to $32,750 a ton. Zinc was among other metals that also advanced.

Oil fell for a third day in London on expectations that a milder-than-usual U.S. winter will crimp heating demand and increase crude inventories. Brent crude oil for January delivery fell as much as 45 cents, 0.8%, to $58.90 a barrel in electronic after-hours trading in London. In New York, oil was at $59.06 a barrel on the NYME.