Gold climbed from a five-week low on demand for a store of value amid economic concerns in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. employment fell in June for the first time this year, signaling a sluggish job-market recovery. Europe risks falling back into recession as nations such as Germany and the U.K. cut budgets sooner than expected, said Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world’s largest bond fund. “People are still considering gold as a safe haven,” said Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva. “Europe is still not in a good shape, and the U.S. is still not in a good shape.” Gold for immediate delivery rose $6.33, or 0.5 percent, to $1,205.28 an ounce at 10:48 a.m. New York time. Yesterday, the price touched $1,196.65, the lowest level since May 25. The metal headed for the second straight weekly decline. The price climbed to a record last month as the euro slumped on sovereign-debt concerns. Before today, gold advanced 9.3 percent in 2010 following gains in the past nine years. The metal is “a good hedge against further problems in the financial field and further potential inflationary trends that will be coming,” Barry James, who manages $2 billion as chief executive officer at James Investment Research Inc. in Xenia, Ohio, said yesterday. In June, gold also surged to all-time high in euros, U.K. pound and Swiss francs. Gold futures for August delivery were little changed at to $1,206.30 on the Comex in New York. The metal touched $1,196 yesterday after the close of floor trading. Silver futures for September delivery dropped 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $17.77 an ounce. Platinum futures for October delivery were little changed at $1,508.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Palladium futures for September delivery rose 2.95, or 0.7 percent, at $432 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net; Yi Tian in New York at ytian8@bloomberg.net.

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