A combination of technical factors, firmer crude oil and a slight pullback in the U.S. dollar enabled gold and silver futures to post modest advances Wednesday.

December gold rose $2 to settle at $596.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while December silver added 6 cents to $11.20 an ounce.

The gold futures bounced from technical support near $586, said Dave Meger, senior metals analyst with Alaron Trading. Specifically, the low hit in the overnight session was $585.60.

"The dollar was slightly weaker on the day, although minimally, but at least allowing that (uptick in metals)," said Meger. "And then the general commodities trend of being down (lately) maybe subsided today, with crude-oil prices being up. There was certainly a benefit from that."

October platinum settled down $22.70 at $1,185.80 an ounce. December palladium settled up $6.25 at $318.35 an ounce.