By Stuart Wallace and Sungwoo Park April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures climbed to a four- month high in New York as the euro gained after a European rescue package for Greece. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge against six counterparts, fell as much as 1.3 percent to the lowest level since March 18. A weaker U.S. currency makes gold denominated in dollars cheaper for investors holding other monies and some investors use the metal to hedge against further declines in the dollar. “There is a broad diversification away from the dollar,” James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, said by phone. “There’s been a broad sidestep towards gold.” Gold futures for delivery in June rose as much as 0.8 percent to $1,170.70 an ounce, the highest price since Dec. 4, and were at $1,163.80 at 8:20 a.m. local time on the Comex in New York. Gold for immediate delivery added 55 cents to $1,162.55 an ounce. In Tokyo, gold futures climbed to the highest price in 27 years. Euro-region finance ministers pledged as much as 45 billion euros ($61 billion) in loans at below-market interest rates to help rescue debt-plagued Greece. The metal rose to $1,163.50 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from $1,152.50 at the afternoon fixing on April 9. Gold may rise to $1,300 later this year or next year, supported by increased investor demand, Philip Klapwijk, executive chairman of research company GFMS Ltd., told a conference in London today. Hedge-Fund Managers Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the week ended April 6, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 203,446 contracts. That was the first increase since the week ended March 9. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by the metal, rose 0.61 metric ton to a record 1,141.04 tons, data on the company’s Web site on April 9 showed. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its 2010 gold price forecast to $1,165 an ounce, without giving its earlier estimate. The bank expects gold to trade at $1,320 an ounce in 12 months, according to a report distributed today. In a March 29 report, Goldman had a 12-month forecast of $1,390. Gold imports this year by India, the biggest user of the metal, may match or exceed the amount bought in 2009, Ajay Mitra, the World Gold Council’s managing director for Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East, said in an interview in Mumbai. Imports were about 480 to 500 tons last year, he said. Platinum Advances Platinum for July delivery gained as much as 0.8 percent to $1,741.80 an ounce, the highest level since Aug. 1, 2008. Silver for delivery in May advanced 0.8 percent to $18.505 an ounce. Palladium futures for June delivery jumped as much as 1.6 percent to $522 an ounce, the highest price since March 2008. Ruthenium, used mostly for coating computer hard disks, climbed to the highest price since December 2008. The metal for immediate delivery rose $5, or 2.6 percent, to $195 an ounce, according to prices from Johnson Matthey Plc on Bloomberg.

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