Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose for the first time in three days as the dollar declined and oil prices jumped, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver and platinum also gained.
The dollar fell as much as 1 percent against the euro after gaining more than 2 percent on Dec. 19. Gold generally move in the opposite direction to the U.S. currency. The metal reached a record $1,032.70 in March as the euro headed for an all-time high against the dollar in July. Oil advanced as much as 2.6 percent, rallying for a second day.
“A little bit of weakness in the dollar” spurred some investors to buy gold, Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Bank Ltd. in Sydney, said by phone today. Trading volume will be very light in the next few days ahead of the Christmas holiday, he said.
Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 1.2 percent, to $848.54 an ounce and was at $845.80 by 10:24 a.m. in Singapore. It lost 3.4 percent in the previous two sessions after reaching $882.09 on Dec. 17, the highest since Oct. 10. Silver for immediate delivery gained 1.5 percent to $11.0425 an ounce.
February-delivery gold added 1.1 percent to $846.20 an ounce in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude oil for February delivery rose 2 percent to $43.20 a barrel in New York at 10:29 a.m. in Singapore on speculation OPEC production cuts and economic stimulus plans will slow rising global stockpiles.
Oil Rally
“Oil’s gain also helped boost the appeal of gold,” said Kazuhiko Saito, a strategist at Interes Capital Management Co. in Tokyo. Gold’s rally lent support to other precious metals, including silver and platinum, he said.
Immediate-delivery platinum rose 0.5 percent to $854 an ounce by 10:31 a.m. Singapore time. Platinum for delivery in December 2009 added 2 yen at 2,450 yen a gram ($845 an ounce) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at the 11 a.m. local time break.
Platinum also rose after President George W. Bush announced on Dec. 19 plans to dispense $13.4 billion in government loans to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, whose U.S. sales have plunged this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net
