(Updates prices, CPI details) * U.S. consumer prices surge in October * Gold reverses course after inflation data * Silver, platinum also touch multi-month highs Nov 10 (Reuters) - Gold hit a five-month high on Wednesday, leading a rally in precious metals, as data showed U.S. consumer prices surged last month, burnishing bullion’s appeal as an inflation hedge. Spot gold was up 0.7% at $1,843.31 per ounce by 13:45 p.m. ET (1845 GMT), after hitting its highest since June 15 at $1,868.20 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures settled 1% higher at $1,848.3. “Once again we have hot inflationary data,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. “Gold being the quintessential hedge against inflation, we believe inflation is the underlying positive environment that will foster the gold market rally in the weeks and months ahead.” U.S. consumer prices accelerated in October as Americans paid more for gasoline and food, leading to the biggest annual gain in 31 years. “This environment is a double-edged sword because as inflationary data continues to come out hotter than expected, the concern will be whether the Federal Reserve reduces liquidity faster than anticipated,” Meger said. Latching onto gold’s coattails, spot silver rose 1.3% to $24.59, platinum added 0.7% to $1,066.05 and palladium gained 0.4% at $2,028.44. The rally looked past strength in the U.S. dollar, which usually dulls gold demand from other currency holders, for much of the session, but finally buckled to give up a chunk of the gains as the greenback hit its highest in over a year. Safe-haven gold, on course for a fifth straight day of gains, also drew support from a slide in real yields on U.S. Treasuries and the overall risk-off sentiment that pushed down Wall Street’s main indexes. Its break above the key resistance level of $1,835 per ounce is important and a close above the $1,851 mark could ignite upward momentum towards $1,900, said Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper. “Gold has a solid floor to build price momentum from given the seasonally strong demand from India,” she said. (Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel and Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter, Aditya Soni and Vinay Dwivedi)