Gold miners enjoyed a sizable rally Wednesday, particularly in Australia and China, with prices for the precious metal climbing to a fresh record high and growing speculation that Beijing will boost its gold purchases to offset the U.S. dollar’s decline.

“Everything is working in gold’s favor,” said Cameron Peacock, a market analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne. It’s “almost a perfect storm for gold.”

Prices for the front-month December gold futures contract climbed as high as $1,208.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex — a new record level. It was at $1,207.40, up $8.30 in early afternoon trading in Asia.

Gold miners outpaced the gains in most of Asia. In Sydney, shares of Lihir Gold Ltd. climbed 3.9%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. jumped 4.6%.

In Tokyo, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. gained 1.1%. Similarly, Zijin Mining Group Co. added 3.9% and Sino Gold Mining Ltd. jumped 8.1% in Hong Kong. In Shanghai, Shandong Gold-Mining Co. Ltd. climbed 4.1%.

“All gold miners were rocking today, up more than the gold price on short covering, I would venture,” said Christopher Ecclestone, a mining strategist at Global Hunter Securities.

Benchmark indexes were higher as well in China and Australia, though they were losing modest ground in Japan. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% in Tokyo. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed by 1.5%, and the Hang Seng Index added 1.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.1% in Sydney, and South Korea’s Kospi added 1.5%.

“We’re starting to see more central banks and sovereign wealth funds buying out of the dollar and into gold,” said Peacock.

Gold companies are the “beneficiaries of these high (gold) prices,” he said.

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