Gold rose in New York and was little changed in London as investors weighed increasing physical demand in India and China against a plunge in assets in the SPDR Gold Trust to a four-year low. Gold imports by China from Hong Kong more than doubled to an all-time high in March, Hong Kong government data showed yesterday. India’s purchases are set to exceed 100 metric tons for a second month in May as jewelers rush to beat central bank curbs on imports by banks, according to Rajesh Khosla, managing director of MMTC-PAMP India Pvt. Gold tumbled to a two-year low in mid-April as investors cut assets amid concern Cyprus would sell reserves. The price has rebounded about 10 percent since then on demand for gold jewelry and coins. In China, “there was very robust demand in the first three months of the year, above all for jewelry, bars and coins,� Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said in an e-mailed report today. “Demand for gold as a safe haven is currently lower amid sharply rising equity markets.� Gold for June delivery advanced 0.3 percent to $1,452.50 an ounce by 6:40 a.m. local time on the Comex in New York. Futures trading volumes were 24 percent lower than the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,453.37 in London, after rising as much as 0.4 percent and falling as much as 0.3 percent. Buyers in mainland China purchased 223,519 kilograms (223.52 tons) of gold in March, including scrap, compared with 97,106 kilograms in February, Hong Kong government data showed. Separate data yesterday showed China’s gold usage rose 26 percent in the first quarter as prices fell. SPDR Fund Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded product, declined 0.4 percent to 1,057.79 tons yesterday, the lowest level since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gold tumbled 13 percent this year as equities rallied and some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value. The Standard & Poor’s (SPX) 500 Index closed at a record for a fourth straight day yesterday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 15,000 for the first time. “Every time we see the U.S. equity market surge, we see a commensurate fall in the gold price,� said David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets. People are switching from gold to equities, he said by phone from Sydney today. Silver futures for July delivery fell 0.1 percent to $23.79 an ounce in New York. Platinum for the same delivery month climbed 0.4 percent to $1,487.70 an ounce, while palladium for June delivery gained 0.7 percent to $685.35 an ounce. To contact the reporters for this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@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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