Gold, trading within 1 percent of an all-time high, may advance for an eighth day on concern that the escalating debt crisis in Europe may trigger a global slowdown, boosting investment demand. Bullion in Shanghai reached a record. The metal for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,565.30 an ounce at 11:32 a.m. in Singapore after touching $1,573.65 yesterday, the highest level since the May 2 record of $1,577.57. An eighth advance would be the best winning run since the nine days of gains to April 25. Ireland joined Portugal and Greece yesterday as the third euro-area nation to have its credit rating cut to below investment grade, sending the metal in euros and pounds to the highest-ever levels. The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the dollar’s value, advanced 0.2 percent today. “Gold can easily reach $1,600 in the next one or two months as the debt crisis in Europe worsens,” Li Fang, an analyst at Zhonghui Futures Co., said from Shanxi. Spot gold has advanced 10 percent this year, set for an 11th annual gain. Gold for August delivery on the Comex in New York rose as much as 0.5 percent to $1,569.90 an ounce, trading within 0.5 percent of its record $1,577.40, reached May 2. Ireland’s credit rating was lowered by Moody’s Investors Service to Ba1 from Baa3. The euro fell to a four-month low against the dollar after a meeting of European Union finance ministers failed to defuse the region’s fiscal woes, hunting for ways to reduce Greece’s debt burden. Yen Speculation The dollar gained today amid speculation Japan may sell its currency to support exporters. The Group of Seven nations jointly sold Japan’s currency on March 18 after the yen reached a postwar record. Gold typically trades counter to the dollar. The metal for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed for a third day, gaining as much as 1.4 percent to 326.42 yuan a gram ($1,571.88 an ounce), highest since reaching a record 337.27 yuan on June 24. Spot gold of 99.95 percent purity on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the benchmark cash contract, surged to a record 326 yuan a gram today. Bullion of 99.99 percent purity touched 326.10 yuan a gram, the highest ever. Trading by overseas members of the precious-metals bourse surged more than twofold in the first half of the year after greater participation was permitted, Shanghai Gold Exchange Deputy Chairman Song Yuqin said yesterday. China became the largest physical gold investment market in the first quarter, according to the producer-funded World Gold Council. Immediate-delivery silver advanced 0.2 percent to $36.1663 an ounce, while the September-delivery contract climbed 1.5 percent to $36.18 an ounce. Spot platinum gained 0.3 percent to $1,735 an ounce and cash palladium was little changed at $764.50 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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