By Nicholas Larkin April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Gold may gain as signs that the economy is improving boost demand for commodities such as the precious metal, a survey showed. Thirteen of 23 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 57 percent, said bullion would rise next week. Five forecast lower prices and five were neutral. Gold for delivery in June was up 2 percent for this week at $1,127.50 an ounce at noon in New York yesterday. The MSCI World Index of shares climbed to an 18-month high yesterday as signs of strength in global manufacturing and a drop in U.S. jobless claims boosted optimism in the economy. Gold futures gained 1.7 percent in the three months ended March 31, a sixth quarterly increase. Gold “should be higher on stock market optimism,” said Walter Otstott, a senior broker at Dallas Commodity Co. in the Texas city. The red bars on the attached chart are derived by subtracting bearish forecasts from bullish estimates, with readings below zero signaling that most respondents expect a decline. The green line shows the gold price. The data shown are as of March 26. The weekly gold survey has forecast prices accurately in 174 of 305 weeks, or 57 percent of the time. This week’s survey results: Bullish: 13 Bearish: 5 Neutral: 5 To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net.

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