Oil resumes rise, gold holds back for now-

Oil shrugged off an early losses on Thursday, heading once again for a landmark $100, but gold weakened along with other commodities, holding short of key new levels.

Oil set a new record above $98 a barrel on Wednesday, while gold hit a near-three decade high of $845.40 an ounce, closing in on the all-time record of $850 set in January 1980.

"They could go through tomorrow, they could go through on Monday, they could go through in three weeks' time," a senior trader said.

"The market is fixated by these levels... The bottom line is I think it will go through, but we may not be able to sustain it at those levels."

At 7:34 a.m. EST gold was trading at $831.90/832.70 while New York front month crude traded at $96.62, up 24 cents.

Crude prices have soared since August on dollar falls, robust demand and tight supplies with trade becoming increasingly volatile approaching $100 a barrel.

It is now approaching the inflation-adjusted peak of $101.70 set in 1980 in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution.

Gold is up more than 30 percent on the year, with troubles in the U.S. credit market and worries over global geopolitics and banking sending investors into safe havens keen to hedge against a falling dollar.

The dollar teetered close to all-time lows against the euro with the market waiting to see whether the European Central Bank would voice concern over recent drastic moves.

HEAVY CORRECTION?

"It's still driven by oil and the euro," Michael Kempinski, metals trader at Commerzbank, said of gold.

"As long as the dollar is weak and oil is on the upside, you have to go with the rally... the danger of a drop is increasing every day. And this will be a heavy correction for sure."

Other commodity markets generally were cautious with fundamentals weighing.

Base metals also came under pressure, with copper falling -- down almost five percent and one stage with speculators cutting long positions.

Copper for delivery in three months (MCU3: Quote, Profile, Research) traded at $7,240, down from Wednesday's close, while lead (MPB3: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 4.8 percent at one point to $3,410 a tonne before paring losses.

London robusta coffee futures also were down with the market suffering a modest setback after recent advances that saw contract highs on Wednesday.

"It is just a little bit of a correction," one trader said.

Dealers said the market advance was triggered largely by a supply squeeze on the November contract and the setback might prove shortlived.

Benchmark January (LKDF8: Quote, Profile, Research) was down $28 at $1,921 a time. The second month set a contract high of $1,997 on Wednesday but failed to breach the key $2,000.

Blue chips up on Rio Tinto news as Nasdaq sags

The S&P 500 and Dow rose at the open on Thursday as shares of natural resources companies gained after BHP Billiton's bid for rival miner Rio Tinto.

The Nasdaq was flat, held down by shares of Cisco (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) after the network-equipment maker made negative comments about demand from some customers.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI: Quote, Profile, Research) was up 46.09 points, or 0.35 percent, at 13,346.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX: Quote, Profile, Research) was up 4.36 points, or 0.30 percent, at 1,479.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 3.95 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,744.81.

Market falls as tech drags as Bernanke eyed

- Stocks fell on Thursday, weighed down by a sell-off in shares of technology companies such as Cisco Systems Inc on concerns that the credit crisis may be starting to hurt tech spending.

Caution ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on the economy also kept investors on the defensive.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 22.60 points, or 0.17 percent, at 13,277.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index

was down 2.10 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,473.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 22.91 points, or 0.83 percent, at 2,725.85.

Dollar extends losses on Bernanke growth comments

The dollar extended losses against the euro on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said U.S. economic growth would remain sluggish, with the housing market expected to slump further.

The euro traded near session highs at $1.47. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 112.53.