Gold for December delivery climbed to a high of $453.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hasn't traded that high since March 16. Prices closed at $450.70, up $1.70, for the first time in a month.

According to MarketWatch, strong demand and inflation fears lifted the December contract for gold futures to a six-month high.

The possibility of "Fed Reserve inaction on a rate increase next week is like water to the precious metals 'garden'," said Ned Schmidt, editor of the Value View Gold Report. "Gold will bloom in this environment," he said.

According to finance24.com, while the dollar was slightly softer, this was insufficient to justify gold's surge.

"The dollar is only down a tad, so it is looking like a pure gold move," TheBullionDesk director Ross Norman said.

"We had a big shakeout in recent days. There was something of a bear trap at the end of August when gold dipped briefly below $430/oz before finding support from physical buying."

"I suspect people are looking at stops above $450, which could trigger a move to $455-$456. At the moment, gold is stalling at the $450 level, but $455-456 would be more daunting technical resistance to breach," he asserted.

Carl Birkelbach, head of Birkelbach Management Corp, told Reuters that the $450 breakthrough was very significant from a technical standpoint.

"To me that means that gold is probably on its way to the $500 dollar area," he said, adding that the yellow metal could hit that level over the next six months.

"From a fundamental standpoint inflationary problems are not going to be solved instantly," Birkelbach said.

Larry Young of Infinity Brokerage told Futuresource.com that December gold could still break the $460 level this week.

"Volume has been really good. We are seeing a pick-up as people are returning from vacation," Young says.