Gold climbed for a third day in London and approached a record as concern about Europe’s debt crisis spurred demand for a protection of wealth. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected an expansion of the euro region’s rescue fund and rebuffed calls for joint euro borrowing, while Switzerland’s central bank said it will take further measures if needed to combat the Swiss currency’s strength. Europe’s shared economy grew 0.2 percent last quarter, trailing economists’ forecast for a 0.3 percent increase. “Gold is still the most appealing asset in the short run, while uncertainty over the euro zone’s future will not evaporate overnight,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said in a report. Immediate-delivery gold rose $8.15, or 0.5 percent, to $1,793.85 an ounce by 9:39 a.m. in London. The metal touched a record $1,814.95 on Aug. 11. Gold for December delivery was up 0.6 percent at $1,796.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York after closing at a record price yesterday. Gold is up 26 percent this year, heading for an 11th straight annual gain, the longest winning streak since at least 1920 in London. The metal has outperformed global equities, commodities and Treasuries in 2011. UniCredit SpA raised its 2012 gold target to $1,800 an ounce from a previous estimate of $1,700 in a report dated yesterday. ETP Holdings Holdings of the metal in exchange-traded products rose 2.1 metric tons to 2,188 tons yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Assets reached a record 2,216.8 tons last week as Standard & Poor’s cut its U.S. credit rating and concern about Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis spurred demand for gold. “It’s going to be a bullish market,” Tetsuya Yoshii, vice president for derivative products at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., said from Tokyo. “After Greece, there was Spain, France and always some new problem, and the U.S. debt problem hasn’t really been solved, so people are looking for a safe haven.” Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.2 percent to $39.9825 an ounce. UniCredit increased its 2012 silver target to $43 from a previous estimate of $38. Palladium gained 0.2 percent to $758 an ounce. Platinum was up 0.4 percent at $1,825.25 an ounce after reaching $1,825.63, the highest price since June 13. It’s up for a seventh day, the longest run of gains since January. To contact the reporters for this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net; Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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