LONDON, Nov 17: Gold held just below its highest in almost 18 years on Thursday, and platinum recovered after slipping 2.6 per cent from its near-26-year peak on heavy buying by investment funds, analysts said.

Gold also touched record highs in other currencies despite dollar strength, which makes gold costlier for holders of other currencies.

“There is no alternative currency really to the US dollar at the moment. So gold is filling that,” said an analyst.

Spot gold hit $486.80 an ounce on Thursday, the highest since January 1988. It was quoted at $485.80/486.60 by 1545 GMT, versus $478.25/479.00 last quoted in New York on Wednesday.

It scaled a new record high in euro terms at 415.02 euros. In terms of the British pound, gold surged to 282.76 sterling, the highest in nearly two decades.—Reuters