By Pham-Duy Nguyen Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose to a five-week high as the dollar weakened against the euro, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver and platinum also gained. The dollar fell as much as 1.9 percent against the euro after Citigroup Inc. received $306 billion in U.S. government guarantees. The collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September triggered a $700 billion U.S. government bailout for banks. Before today, gold had fallen 5.5 percent this year as the dollar rallied 14 percent against the euro. “Gold is up on the weakness of the dollar,” said Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. “A rally was overdue because gold was so undervalued. The overall impact of what the bailout is going to cost will ultimately become very negative for the dollar.” Gold futures for December delivery rose $26.90, or 3.4 percent, to $818.70 an ounce at 9:34 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price touched $824, the highest since Oct. 16. Silver futures for March delivery rose 83 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $10.335 an ounce on Comex. Platinum futures for January delivery gained $34.80, or 4.2 percent, to $860.50 an ounce on Nymex. Palladium for March delivery rose $16.75, or 9.3 percent, to $197 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

Source