Gold and silver rose Friday in electronic trading as investors returned to the precious metals on concerns over soverign debt worries on both sides of the Atlantic, weakness in the banking sector and sluggish growth in the U.S. and Europe.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract on the CME Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose more than 1 percent $20.40 to $1,783.60.

Silver for September delivery climbed 21 cents per ounce to $49.96 cents.

Platinum slipped 90 cents to $1,821.50.

The gains mirrored those achieved earlier in Europe where gold was up nearly 1 percent.

In the last three sessions, gold lost more than $200, after hitting a record high above $1,911 on Tuesday.

We believe this is a healthy correction for the market, and barring further near term weakness, the longer-term uptrend remains intact given the macro backdrop, said Barclays Capital in a research note.

Volatility... is some 65 percent higher than the 2010 average, Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank told Reuters. That tells us that despite the uptrend being firmly intact, we have to expect violent corrections as we move along.

Weak speculative longs has now been washed out, and the market is settling down for (Federal Reserve Chairman Ben) Bernanke. QE3 or no QE3, it does not alter the near-term dire prospects for economic activity and worries about the health of the banking sector and government debt.

Gold Federal reserve Ben Bernanke Barclays