Gold and other precious metals soared again Wednesday amid a buying stampede.

Near-term gold futures in New York jumped $13.90, or 1.4 percent, to finish the session at $1,018.90 an ounce, a record closing high.

“It’s really a feeding frenzy,” said Larry Young, senior trader at Infinity Futures in Chicago.

Gold is up 7.1 percent so far this month, beating the 4.7 percent advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index.

Traders said Wednesday’s rally was stoked in part by another drop in the dollar’s value, which gives investors one of the best excuses for turning to metals as a way to protect their money’s purchasing power.