Gold futures may gain for a second day as renewed concerns about Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis boosted demand for the metal as an alternative investment. August-delivery futures gained as much as 0.3 percent to $1,516.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York before trading little changed at $1,513.40 at 10:35 a.m. in Singapore. Immediate-delivery gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,513.20. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Portugal’s debt, to Ba2 from Baa1, making it the second euro-region country with a non-investment-grade rating. Discussions to involve private investors in a new rescue plan for Greece make it more likely that the European Union will require the same pre-conditions in the case of Portugal, Moody’s said in a statement. “Is there a chance that there’s going to be another issue there? That’s well on the agenda of people and that’s a supporting move,” said Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. “People have this flight to quality when they see it as a concern.” Recent rallies in U.S. equity markets and a weaker dollar may also increase demand for the metal, Barratt said. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 5.6 percent last week. The dollar declined 0.2 percent today against a basket of six currencies. Silver for immediate delivery declined 0.4 percent to $35.34 an ounce, after a 3.9 percent advance yesterday. Spot palladium gained 0.2 percent to $776.63 an ounce and cash platinum lost 0.3 percent to $1,735.70 an ounce. To contact the reporter for this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net.

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