Gold gained in London as concern that measures announced by European officials won’t be sufficient to contain the region’s sovereign debt crisis spurred demand for a protection of wealth. Leaders announced 159 billion euros ($229 billion) of new aid for Greece yesterday after talks in Brussels yesterday. They also enabled their 440-billion euro rescue fund to buy debt across stressed euro nations after a market rout last week sparked concern the crisis was spreading. The bailout means Greece faces a “restricted default,” Fitch Ratings said. “Many legal and political issues need to be ironed out and the crisis is far from solved,” Edel Tully, a London-based analyst at UBS AG, said in a report. “Europe will remain a primary catalyst for further gains over the medium term. Many investors are not fully convinced by yesterday’s developments.” Immediate-delivery gold rose $6.05, or 0.4 percent, to $1,596.75 an ounce by 12:12 p.m. in London. The metal reached an all-time high $1,610.10 on July 19 and is up 0.2 percent this week. Gold for August delivery was 0.6 percent higher at $1,597 an ounce on the Comex in New York after reaching a record $1,610.70 on July 19. Open interest in Comex futures climbed to a six-month high of 546,601 contracts on July 20. Euro-area leaders have erected a firewall around Spain and Italy to end the 21-month sovereign bond crisis and risked temporary default to lighten Greece’s debt burden. The Greek financing package will consist of 109 billion euros from the euro region and the International Monetary Fund. Financial institutions will contribute 50 billion euros after agreeing to a series of bond exchanges and buybacks. 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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