Gold gained near a record in London as unrest in Libya and the Middle East and concern about Europe’s debt crisis spurred demand for an alternative investment. The U.S.-led alliance is preparing to direct more attacks against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s ground forces, as coalition members try to resolve disputes over who will take over command. European leaders will meet this week to find a permanent solution to the region’s debt crisis, amid concern Portugal’s government will collapse today. Gold reached a record $1,444.95 on March 7. “Gold prices could remain supported in the near-term by Middle East tensions,” Tom Pawlicki, an analyst in Chicago at MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF), said today in a report. “Support could come from sovereign debt worries in the euro zone. Worries over the safety of the euro could resume the push into commodities and hard assets as safe havens.” Immediate-delivery bullion rose $4.76, or 0.3 percent, to $1,432.41 an ounce at 9:37 a.m. in London. Gold for April delivery was 0.3 percent higher at $1,432.50 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Bullion demand firmed as investors sought a protection of wealth against intensifying violence in Libya and the Middle East and the aftermath of Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Tokyo authorities said city tap water may be unsafe for infants as Tokyo Electric Power Co. attempts to restore power to reactors at the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant and prevent radiation leaks. Attacks on Civilians The initial wave of allied airstrikes, which concentrated on Libya’s air defenses, hasn’t ended attacks on civilians by Qaddafi’s fighters, said U.S. Admiral Samuel Locklear, the tactical commander for the allied attacks on Libya. In Brussels, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held a second day of inconclusive talks about whether it or some ad-hoc grouping will take command of military operations. Elsewhere, Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for three decades, urged unity among the armed forces after several officers defected to join protesters. Four people were killed after Syrian security forces closed in on protesters near a mosque in the southern city of Daraa, BBC Arabic and Al Arabiya television reported. European Union leaders are divided over how to let a stopgap fund spend its full capacity of 440 billion euros ($624 billion) to ease the region’s credit woes as a March 24-25 summit approaches. Portugal’s parliament votes on budget cuts that have divided lawmakers. The likelihood that the government will fall this week “looks high,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) said in a report. Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.1 percent to $36.4150 an ounce. It climbed to $36.7525 on March 7, the highest level since February 1980, the year in which the metal reached a record $50.35 in New York. Palladium was up 0.3 percent at $739.75 an ounce. Platinum gained 0.2 percent to $1,742.63 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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