Gold advanced for a second day in London on speculation government measures won’t immediately improve the global economy, raising demand for the metal as a store of value. Platinum gained to a four-month high. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday it would “take time” for the U.S. government’s bank rescue packages to work as he pledged as much as $2 trillion in financing for programs aimed at spurring new lending and addressing banks’ toxic assets. “Investors are likely to lack confidence” following Geithner’s warning, James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, wrote today in a note. Markets are “set to remain pressured, and potentially drawing further interest towards safe- haven assets such as gold,” he wrote. Bullion for immediate delivery gained $10.67, or 1.2 percent, to $925.78 an ounce by 11:37 a.m. local time. April futures climbed $12.50, or 1.4 percent, to $926.70 in electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal rose to $922 in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from $909.75 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. Platinum for immediate delivery advanced $20.25, or 2 percent, to $1,055.50 an ounce. The U.S. Senate approved a separate $838 billion economic stimulus package yesterday, clearing the way for negotiations with the House. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King today said the British economy is in a “deep recession,” and that the central bank may cut interest rates further and boost money supply. Inflation Slows Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, expanded to a record 894.72 metric tons yesterday. Still, “deflationary pressures in the global economy remain evident,” London-based broker Marex Financial Ltd. said in a note. Investors traditionally also purchase gold as a hedge against rising consumer prices. Germany’s inflation rate dropped to the lowest level in almost five years in January and China’s inflation cooled to the weakest pace in more than two years. Platinum has gained in five of the past six days, to more than $1,050 an ounce for the first time since Oct. 1. Technical charts indicate it may struggle to rise beyond $1,092, according to Moore. “Given the drop in both industrial and jewelry-related demand, the white metal will be reliant on investment demand and gains in gold,” he wrote. Among other metals for immediate delivery in London, silver rose 2.2 percent to $13.44 an ounce and palladium was 0.4 percent higher at $213.25 an ounce.

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