Gold futures hit a new record of $929.80 an ounce on Monday as the dollar fell against the euro among expectations of another Federal Reserve rate cut while platinum rallied to a record high of $1,733 an ounce on South African supply concerns.

Gold for February delivery surged to a record $929.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It later reclined back to close as $926.60 an ounce, up $15.90.

The U.S. dollar lost against other major currencies amid weak U.S. housing data and predictions that the Federal Reserve will again cut interest rates by a half- percentage point this week to prevent the U.S. from heading into a recession.

Lower interest can boost the economy but also weaken the dollar as investors shift funds into hard assets like gold and platinum.

Gold reached the previous record of $924.30 on January 25, just three days after the Fed cut its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point to 3.5 percent in an emergency move after global equity markets slumped.

Mining companies in South Africa stopped production last week due to electrical cuts which has contributed to stronger gold and platinum prices. Several major mining companies, including AngloGold Ahsanti Ltd., Gold Fields Ltd. and Harmony Gold Mining Co., were forced to close Friday because of a national electricity shortage which stopped production at some of the world's biggest mines.

South Africa is the world's leading platinum producer and is second only to China in world gold production.

I think that we are starting to emerge from a crisis that had the potential to undermine the viability of the South African gold industry, AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani said in a statement.

Platinum futures for April delivery jumped $48.60, or 2.9 percent, to $1,728.70 an ounce on the Nymex. The price earlier reached a record $1,733.

South Africa Gold