Gold headed for a fourth weekly advance as the dollar retreated, boosting demand for precious metals as a store of value. Silver was on track for its best weekly run in more than four years. Bullion for immediate delivery traded little changed at $1,333.30 an ounce at 3:15 p.m. in Seoul, after gaining as much as 0.3 percent earlier and reaching a record $1,364.77 yesterday. Gold is up 1.1 percent this week, as the dollar dropped 1 percent against a six-currency basket. Palladium is heading for a fourth weekly gain after yesterday surging to the highest price since 2001. “Investors may be hesitant to enter new long positions ahead of the key U.S. non-farm payrolls report,” Phillip Futures analysts including Teoh Say Hwa wrote in a note today. “A persistently weak labor market will increase the likelihood of more quantitative easing by the Fed to boost the economy.” The dollar traded near the lowest level since 1995 against the yen on burgeoning speculation the Federal Reserve will debase its currency by stepping up purchases of government debt to support the economic recovery. U.S. unemployment probably climbed in September for a second consecutive month as slower growth prompted companies to limit hiring, economists said before a report today. The Bank of Japan this week cut borrowing costs for the first time since 2008 and set up a 5 trillion yen ($60 billion) fund to buy state bonds and other assets, prompting speculation the U.S. central bank may follow suit and driving the Dollar Index to the lowest level yesterday since January. Vietnamese Importers Vietnam’s central bank allowed 10 gold traders to import the precious metal, online newswire VnExpress reported today, citing Governor Nguyen Van Giau. Yesterday, online newswire VnEconomy reported, Vietnam’s central bank may allow businesses to import gold, citing Nguyen Quang Huy, head of the State Bank of Vietnam’s department for foreign-currency management. The Vietnam news “is another example of gold’s popularity being high due to local currency debasement,” Edel Tully, a London-based analyst at UBS AG, said in a report yesterday. Bullion has risen 22 percent this year, heading for a 10th annual gain as central banks and governments maintained low borrowing costs and spent trillions of dollars to stimulate economies, increasing the metal’s appeal as an alternative asset. Silver rose 0.3 percent to $22.5775 an ounce, up 2.1 percent this week. The metal is also seen as a safe haven by investors and climbed to a 30-year high of $23.4875 yesterday. It is up for a seventh week, on track for the longest rally since May 2006. Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $1,697.25 an ounce, after touching $1,728 yesterday, the highest price since May 14. Palladium is unchanged at $587.25 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net.

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