Gold prices rose Thursday, rallying near $600 an ounce before pulling back as traders booked profits.

August gold settled up $7.90 at $588.90 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange. During the session, the contract rose as high as $594.90.

July silver settled at $10.333 an ounce, up 17.8 cents, off of a session high of $10.50 an ounce.

Bernard Hunter of Scotia Mocatta said the rally fizzled because near the end of the month, many traders book profits.

Also, "there was some jockeying for position in front of the expected 25 point interest rate hike by the Fed, and also the last full trading day before the long weekend," said Hunter.

Gold is regarded as a hedge against inflation, which the Fed is trying to keep under control by raising interest rates.

The Comex division of the Nymex will close early Friday, with trading suspended on Monday and Tuesday in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Trading will resume Wednesday.

July platinum settled $27.50 higher at $1,205.70 an ounce.

Chart-based buying and ideas that the Federal Reserve will not be "overly hawkish" on interest rates Thursday afternoon sent copper futures sharply higher in New York.

The most-active September copper contract rose 13.4 cents to settle at $3.3210 per pound.