BLBG:Gold Advances as Central Banks Join Investors Adding to Holdings
Gold rose as central banks joined investors in adding to holdings and the euro strengthened against the dollar before regional leaders meet today. Silver traded near a one-month high.
Spot gold rose as much as 0.2 percent to $1,732.65 an ounce, and was at $1,730.60 at 1:03 p.m. in Singapore. The U.S. Mint sold 67,000 ounces of gold coins so far in November, more than the 59,000 ounces for all of October, according to figures on the Mint’s website. At that pace, total sales for the month would be 100,500 ounces, up 145 percent from a year earlier. Silver gained as much as 0.3 percent to $33.4525 an ounce, the most expensive since Oct. 15, before trading at $33.3525.
Gold rallied 11 percent this year as investors and central banks bought bullion to diversify assets. Holdings in ETPs backed by bullion rose to a record 2,605.318 metric tons yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Kazakhstan, Turkey and Russia boosted reserves in October, according to data on the International Monetary Fund’s website, joining Brazil, which raised holdings to the highest in more than 11 years.
“Central bank and investment demand has been very positive for gold prices and that’s also helping to offset lackluster physical demand in Asia,” said Huang Fulong, an analyst at CITICS Futures Co., a unit of China’s largest brokerage by market value.
Gold for December delivery climbed 0.2 percent to $1,730.80 an ounce in electronic trading on the Comex in New York. The euro rose 0.1 percent against the dollar before leaders of the 27 European Union member nations gather today for budget talks. U.S. markets are closed for Thanksgiving.
Spot platinum gained 0.4 percent to $1,582.25 an ounce and palladium advanced 0.5 percent to $649.50 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