Gold rose for the third straight day, extending a rally approaching $1,000 an ounce, on speculation the global financial crisis will widen, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a haven asset. Silver declined. Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, increased to a record 1,024.1 metric tons yesterday. Before today, gold jumped 11 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 13 percent. “Gold is the new flavor of the month,” said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. “The reason gold keeps rising is because people are fed up to the gills with the traditional investment system because it has failed them.” Gold futures for April delivery rose $3.60, or 0.4 percent, to $981.80 an ounce at 10:14 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, the metal reached $988.70, the highest since July 15. The price climbed to a record $1,033.90 on March 17. Silver futures for March delivery fell 23.5 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $14.055 an ounce. Before today, the price jumped 27 percent this year.

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