By Feiwen Rong Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Gold jumped to the highest in nearly 11 weeks as investors sought bullion as a haven after Asian stocks tumbled on the heel of plunging U.S. equities amid a deepening credit crisis and worsening global economic outlook. The Asian stocks benchmark index headed for its worst week on record as Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average today dropped as much as 11 percent. Australian stocks headed for their worst week since 1987 stock market crash. South Korea's Kospi index fell to its lowest since June, 2006. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 9,000 yesterday for the first time since 2003. ``Of all the times in history, this has got to be one of the most unsettling for any types of investors and again they are looking for a safe haven,'' Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Bank Ltd., said by phone from Sydney today. Bullion for immediate delivery jumped as much as $14.65, or 1.6 percent, to $927.90 an ounce, the highest since July 29. It traded at $915.50 at 9:37 a.m. in Singapore. Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.8 percent at $12.20 an ounce. Higher borrowing costs and slower consumer spending spurred concern that profit may decline at carmakers, insurers and energy companies. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 7.6 percent to 909.92 yesterday, capping a seven-day decline, the longest losing streak since 1996. December-delivery gold rallied 3.6 percent to $918.30 an ounce in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for August delivery gained 0.4 percent to 2,893 yen a gram ($907 an ounce) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 9:40 a.m. local time. To contact the reporter on this story: Feiwen Rong in Singapore at frong2@bloomberg.net

Source