Gold futures in New York for delivery in December, the most active contract, ended at $1,354.00 an ounce, up more than 1% compared to Wednesday's closing price and not far off its highs for the day. Gold is now up 17.6% or over $200 so far in 2017.

Gold's rally from it's summer lows was given fresh impetus from a sharp fall in the US dollar on Thursday. A decision to hold rates in Europe, disappointing US job numbers combined with mounting costs for damages from hurricane Harvey and the possible devastating effect of approaching storm saw the greenback trade at its lowest level against the country's major trading partners since January 2015.

The standoff with North Korea also attracted safe haven buying of gold with no sign that the world's major powers are any closer to finding a way to deal with the nuclear-armed rogue state:

“Investors don’t want to go into the weekend when North Korea is scheduled to show its military prowess during the Founders day celebration without their hedges in place,” Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial told MarketWatch.

Gold's leg up saw major gold mining stocks enjoying another positive day of trading.

World number two producer Newmont with output of 5m ounces expected this year, was one of the best performers of the day with the Denver-based company rising 3.2% in New York. With a $21.1 billion market cap Newmont is now worth more than top producer Barrick Gold. The Toronto-based company has shrunk its portfolio of mines and this year is predicting between 5.3–5.6m ounces of gold production, down from a peak of 7.7m ounces six years ago.

Goldcorp added 2.5% for a market cap of $12 billion, but the Vancouver-based miner's advance so far this year has been modest as just over 4%. The third largest gold miner in terms of output, AngloGold Ashanti trading in New York leaped 4.9% pushing the company back into positive territory for the year.

Fellow South Africa-based producer Sibanye fresh off a $2 billion acquisition of a North American platinum producer and a name change was the odd one out with a decline on the day, but Harmony Gold and Gold Fields advanced with the latter now sporting year-to-date gains of 55%. Africa-focused Randgold Resources added 3.8% lifting the company's market value on the Nasdaq to above $10 billion and year to date gains to above 40%.

Toronto's Kinross Gold climbed 4.5% pushing its market value above $6 billion. The Canadian miner with four mines in the US, a couple in Russia and operations in Brazil and West Africa is now up more than 47% in 2017. Other Canadian gold companies also performed well with Agnico Eagle up 1.6%, Yamana Gold adding 1.8% and Eldorado Gold gaining 1.6%

No prime minister of Mongolia, a thinly populated and mineral-rich country sandwiched between Russia and China, has completed a four-year term since 2004.

Of 73 members of parliament attending the vote, 42 were in favor of Erdenebat’s removal.

The outgoing prime minister noted that the country had seen 13 governments in the last 25 years.

“The resignation of a government in a democratic parliament is a normal occurrence, but it can be harmful if a good thing goes beyond its norms,” Erdenebat said in a statement on parliament’s website.

A former Soviet satellite, Mongolia transitioned to a parliamentary democracy in 1990.

“I believe that dismissing government is a mistake that hinders the development of the country, rather than a positive mechanism of accountability,” Erdenebat said.

The MPP gained power in mid-2016 in elections in which it won 65 of parliament’s 76 seats.

It is expected to hold a party congress to choose new leadership, said Dale Choi, an analyst and head of Altan Bumba Financial Group in Ulaanbaatar.

“I don’t think it means instability” for the government, he said.

“I think it means internal party politics. It’s clearing the party’s decks after a monumental, unexpected presidential loss.”

Last month, some 30 members of the parliament, or State Ikh Khural, signed a petition calling for Erdenebat’s resignation in the aftermath of the presidential vote, which was won by populist former martial arts star and businessman Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party.

The defeat was seen as a rejection of the MPP government’s austerity policies and a reaction to allegations of corruption.

In Mongolia’s parliamentary democracy, the prime minister is the leader of the government, and the president has limited powers including the ability to veto legislation and to propose laws to parliament.

Higher coal prices this year have helped the resource-dependent economy gain momentum. But earlier this year, a slump in foreign investment and declining commodity prices forced Mongolia to agree to a $5.5 billion economic bailout led by the International Monetary Fund, to relieve fiscal strains and try to restore investor confidence.

The purpose of signing the document is to provide assistance to the Mongolian party in commissioning jet fuel supply facilities of the new airport and to ensure uninterrupted supply of Rosneft jet fuel to the Mongolian market which is strategically important for the Company.

"Development of business in Mongolia is a part of our strategy, our Subsidiary Rosneft-Mongolia operates in the country dealing with wholesale fuel distribution offering the best financial conditions and committed to its contractual obligations. Over years of our work in the Republic we earned the reputation of a reliable and diligent supplier among our Mongolian colleagues. With our Mongolian colleagues we set up the joint venture Mergevan which supplies jet fuel for Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar. We have vast experience of work on this niche market and evident logistical advantages" - Igor Sechin said.

The two-day event in Russia's Far East attracted more than 700 business representatives and politicians from 55 countries, including China, India, Japan, South Korea and the US. Nearly 70 foreign companies took part.

This year's Eastern Economic Forum (EEF 2017) was attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga.

The primary goal of the annual event is raising investment to develop Russia's Far East regions and reinventing the city of Vladivostok as an Asian hub for trade and transportation.

Issues discussed at the forum included the effectiveness of advanced development zones, the free port of Vladivostok, infrastructural support and the Far Eastern Hectare program giving away land to Russian citizens.

The is the third year of the forum, and at last year's event, 216 agreements worth 1.85 trillion rubles ($32 billion) were signed.

42 out of 73 members of Mongolia's legislature, the Great Khural, voted to oust Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat along with his 15 cabinet ministers.

A majority of the ruling Mongolia People's Party (MPP) voted for the removal measure. The party now has 45 days to appoint a new PM.

Legislators accused Erdenebat of granting 800 billion tugrik ($328 million) in concessions to eight companies related to his cabinet ministers, providing illegal cash allowances to voters and presenting a poor image to the public.

Erdenebat has fiercely denied the allegations and in a statement before the vote he lashed out against "Mongolia's practice of ousting its cabinet", which he said had been toxic to the "country´s development and poisons our economy".

"Although, some of us point to foreign investments as economic killers, in reality we politicians are the internal killers of our economy and suffocate our own growth," he said.

Mongolia´s economy has performed well under Erdenebat's government, with a dramatic improvement in the first half of 2017 on the back of growing demand for coal from China.

Political instability, however, has been a constant problem for the young Central Asian democracy, which passed its first constitution in 1992 after decades of Communist rule.

The country has been through 15 different cabinets in the years since, each lasting an average of 1.5 years.

Late last month, the MPP issued a letter calling for Erdenebat and other senior leaders to resign, alleging they had violated the law in pursuit of their own business and political interests.

The letter came just weeks after a close loss by the party's candidate in a scandal-plagued presidential election.

The decision to demand Erdenbat's resignation was made after the party leadership declined to punish its bigwigs for their alleged role in a $25 million conspiracy to sell government positions that many believe cost the MPP the presidency.

The MPP won by a landslide in the 2016 elections, taking 65 out of 76 seats in the national parliament, and formed the cabinet headed by Erdenebat, who is alleged to have used his political powers to spy on fellow party members.

“Our two countries have many things in common, both ethnically and linguistically. We are like brother countries, as we are very close to each other, both historically and geographically,” said President Moon. He said that this meeting would help to increase the personal trust between him and the Mongolian president, and, also, would lay a solid foundation for better ties between the two countries. 

The president also outlined his plan to establish the “Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative” through which six countries -- Korea, the U.S., Japan, China, Russia and Mongolia -- aim to pursue peace and security across the region by discussing ways to cooperate on threats like North Korea. 

“If we work together to launch this platform, it would be possible to combine it with the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue Initiative, a consultative body for Northeast Asian security initiated by the Mongolian government," he said.

As for the current security crisis on the Korean Peninsula caused by North Korea’s ceaseless provocations, President Moon said, “It’s inevitable that we increase U.N. Security Council sanctions and pressure the regime. I call on the Mongolian government to join forces with the international community if it decides to cut off crude oil supplies to Pyongyang.”

President Battulga said, “Our government takes advantage of the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue Initiative to deter Pyongyang from conducting its nuclear weapons tests. Just like Korea, our country, too, remains divided in two: Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia. We fully understand your pain.”