The price of gold rose to 906 dollars an ounce here on Monday, the highest level for three and a half months, on buying by specialist funds amid fresh concerns about the global economic outlook.
The price reached 906 dollars in mid-morning trading, the highest quote since October 10, having risen above 900 dollars on Friday for the first time in three months.
Since January 15, gold has risen strongly. An analyst at UBS bank, John Reade, said that buying had been driven mainly by defensive investment in physical gold or through specialist so-called exchange-traded funds.
Last week, a wave of bad economic indicators and a new round of problems in the banking sector, particuarly in Britain, raised general concern about economic conditions, causing some investors to put money into gold, seen as a protection of value in troubled times.