Sister metal palladium also rose, with silver and gold lagging behind the two metals which are key components of anti-pollution systems in motor vehicles. Platinum is also popular in fine jewellery.
At 9:46 am EST (1446 GMT), January platinum at the New York Mercantile Exchange was up $8.30, 0.9 percent, at $952.00 an ounce. Benchmark futures had not been that high since they were falling from near $1,050 an ounce in 1979.
"I think $1,000, we're going to see what that looks like," said Ralph D'Esposito at RJ Futures. "It may take a while to get there. You can see how easily we can go up $15 or down $15 in platinum."
Spot platinum was quoted at $948/952.
December palladium was up $3.50, or 1.5 percent, at $236.50 an ounce, a level benchmark palladium futures last traded at in June 2004. Spot palladium was quoted at $233/237.
Palladium rose above $1,000 an ounce in early 2001, but more reliable exports from Russia and increased production from South Africa helped prices ease back. Car makers got stuck with huge palladium stockpiles and began substituting platinum, which at that time looked cheap in comparison. December delivery gold was up $1.20 at $463.50 an ounce at the COMEX division of the NYMEX, trading from $461.10 to $465.50.
Gold, which hit 18-year highs near $483 last month, has been resilient in the face of a rally in the dollar to a two-year high against the euro this week. But James Quinn, commodity commentator at A.G. Edwards, said further gains in the dollar could slow gold's rally.
Spot gold traded at $461.70/462.50 an ounce, against Tuesday's late quote of $461.20/2.00. London's late fix on Wednesday was at $462.55.
December silver was up 5.5 cents at $7.685 an ounce, trading from $7.625 to $7.72. Spot traded at $7.65/67 an ounce, above $7.57/60 previously. It fixed at $7.65.