Gold may rise for a fourth day in London as concern about Europe’s debt crisis spurs demand for a protection of wealth and as China’s bullion imports surged. Palladium climbed to a nine-year high. China’s gold imports jumped almost fivefold in the first 10 months from the entire amount last year as concern about rising inflation increased its appeal as a store of value, the Shanghai Gold Exchange said. The dollar fell against the euro before the European Central Bank announces its decision on interest rates and any steps to stem the region’s fiscal woes. Gold reached a record $1,424.60 an ounce on Nov. 9. “While the return of risk appetite hasn’t crimped gold’s safe-haven appeal, decent resistance is blocking the yellow metal’s return to $1,400,” Edel Tully, an analyst at UBS AG in London, said in a report. “Market attention today will be focused on the European Central Bank meeting,” and the Chinese import comments “have added to gold’s appeal,” she said. Immediate-delivery bullion added $3.72, or 0.3 percent, to $1,391.63 an ounce at 10:10 a.m. in London. It yesterday reached $1,397.50, the highest price since Nov. 12. The metal for February delivery was 0.3 percent higher at $1,392.70 on the Comex in New York. The euro this week fell to a two-month low versus the dollar as concern deepened that the region’s debt crisis would spread. Policy makers will today keep their benchmark rate at a record low 1 percent, according to all 52 economists in a Bloomberg survey. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold a press conference in Frankfurt following the decision. China Imports Gain China’s imports gained to 209 metric tons compared with 45 tons for all of 2009, Shen Xiangrong, chairman of the bourse, told a conference in Shanghai today. The country is the world’s largest bullion producer and the second-biggest user. Investment demand in China may reach 150 tons this year, up from 105 tons last year, Albert Cheng, managing director of the World Gold Council’s Far East department, told a conference in Shanghai today. “People there need to buy gold to hedge against inflation as the country’s tightening monetary policy drives investors from stocks and properties to gold,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at IDO Securities Co. in Tokyo. China’s demand will continue to grow, making the country one of the top importers together with India, he said. Gold assets in exchange-traded products rose 7.65 tons to 2,094.48 tons yesterday, the highest amount since Oct. 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 10 providers. Holdings reached a record 2,104.65 tons on Oct. 14. Silver holdings gained 71.45 tons to 14,851.49 tons, data from four providers show. Platinum Gains Silver for immediate delivery in London added 0.3 percent to $28.5475 an ounce. The metal is up 69 percent this year and yesterday touched $28.8375, the highest level since Nov. 9, when it reached a 30-year high of $29.36. Palladium rose as much as 2.5 percent to $753.17 an ounce, the highest price since April 2001, and was last at $748.55. Platinum was 1.3 percent higher at $1,709.40 an ounce. Platinum and palladium are used to make pollution-control devices for cars. U.S. sales of light vehicles rose 17 percent in November, Autodata Corp. said yesterday. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 12.3 million, matching the October rate that was the fastest since the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” program in 2009. To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net; Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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