Gold headed for a 10th straight quarterly rise, the longest in three decades, as turmoil in the Middle East, fighting in Libya and Japan’s nuclear crisis increased demand for an investment haven. Bullion for immediate delivery advanced 0.3 percent to $1,427.13 an ounce at 5:28 p.m. in Melbourne, taking the quarterly gain to 0.5 percent. The June-delivery contract in New York rose 0.3 percent to $1,428.50, heading for a 0.5 percent quarterly rise. “There is a lot of uncertainty around the globe in terms of political events,” David Lennox, a Sydney-based resource analyst at Fat Prophets, said by phone today. Fighting could escalate in Libya, while there is uncertainty surrounding Bahrain and the nuclear crisis in Japan, he said. Gold reached a record $1,447.82 an ounce on March 24 amid tension in northern Africa and the Middle East and after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan killed thousands and caused radiation to leak from a nuclear plant. Libyan rebels were forced to retreat this week by troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi after earlier advances were helped by U.S.-led air strikes. “We are now starting to see that the air strikes may not be completely effective against Qaddafi, and that’s going to raise the next bar,” Lennox said. Gold advanced for nine consecutive quarters through Dec. 31, 2010, partly because investors bought the metal as a hedge against dollar and euro weakness. Gains were limited this quarter on signs the U.S. economy is improving, boosting investor appetite for higher-yielding assets like stocks. ‘Upward Advance’ “In nominal terms it has been a pretty steady upward advance, but it has come off a period prior to 2000 where we basically had 20 years of flat gold prices,” Ben Westmore, an analyst at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne, said today. Companies in the U.S. added 201,000 workers in March, a sign the labor market may be strengthening, according to figures from ADP Employer Services yesterday. Employment increased by a revised 208,000 in February, said the report, which is based on payrolls. Economists project a Labor Department report tomorrow will show the jobless rate held at 8.9 percent. It has fallen by 0.9 percentage point over the last three months, the biggest decline since 1983. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.7 percent yesterday and is up 5.6 percent this quarter. “Buoyant equities and a positive U.S. ADP employment report removed some of the safe-haven premium” in the gold market, Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote in a note today. Silver for immediate delivery climbed 0.4 percent to $37.62 an ounce, heading for a 22 percent rise this quarter, the ninth straight quarterly gain. The metal has more than doubled in the past year and reached a 31-year high of $38.165 on March 24. Immediate-delivery platinum was little changed at $1,773.90 an ounce and palladium gained 0.7 percent to $758.75 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Wendy Pugh in Melbourne wpugh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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