Gold rose for a second day in New York, narrowing the first monthly drop since May, as the dollar weakened and holdings of the metal in exchange-traded products increased to a record. The euro advanced as much as 0.5 percent against the dollar before euro-area finance chiefs hold a conference call to discuss ways to keep Greece in the shared currency. They may give the country some room to meet its bailout targets. Holdings in bullion-backed ETPs climbed to 2,587.92 metric tons yesterday, data tracked by Bloomberg show. “The dollar is weakening,� Barry Ehrlich, an analyst at Alfa Bank, said by phone from Moscow. “All the risk assets are higher, including gold. Investors still have the preference for holding the underlying commodity,� he said, referring to the ETP positions. Bullion for December delivery gained 0.5 percent to $1,721.30 an ounce by 7:25 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices are down 3 percent this month. Gold for immediate delivery rose 0.7 percent to $1,720.82 an ounce in London. Comex floor trading will take place today for the first time since Oct. 26, according to the website of CME Group Inc., which owns the exchange. The floor was shut for this week’s first two days because of Atlantic superstorm Sandy. Gold rose to $1,718 an ounce in the morning “fixing� in London, used by some mining companies to sell output, from $1,710 yesterday afternoon. Silver for December delivery gained 1.4 percent to $32.275 an ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 1.6 percent to $1,578.30 an ounce. Palladium for December delivery jumped 2.5 percent to $610.90 an ounce. To contact the reporters on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net; Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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