Gold climbed to near a two-week high on speculation that a decision by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates may help to fan inflation, and after holdings in exchange-traded products expanded to an all-time high. Immediate-delivery gold gained as much as 0.2 percent to $1,619.13 an ounce and was at $1,619.07 at 10:37 a.m. in Singapore. Holdings in exchange-traded products rose to a record 2,412.42 metric tons on July 3, data tracked by Bloomberg show. The ECB will probably reduce the benchmark rate 25 basis points to a record low of 0.75 percent today, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 62 economists, as policy makers battle the region’s debt crisis. The Bank of England may raise its target for bond purchases today, boosting it by 50 billion pounds ($78 billion), another survey shows. “Expectations are for a cut in the interest rate,� Alexandra Knight, an economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by phone from Melbourne. That “could give a bit of support to gold. Inflationary pressures are likely to increase, if anything, if there’s further monetary-policy easing.� The August-delivery contract fell as much as 0.6 percent to $1,611.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York, and last traded at $1,618.40. Spot silver rose as much as 0.5 percent to $28.275 an ounce before trading at $28.2725. Platinum for immediate delivery gained as much as 0.7 percent to $1,489.25 an ounce and was at $1,487.75. Palladium climbed as much as 0.6 percent to $599.25 an ounce and was at $597.75. To contact the reporter for this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jake Lloyd-Smith at jlloydsmith@bloomberg.net

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