Gold traded little changed Asia, after rising for two days, as investors sought an alternative to tumbling equities amid the global financial turmoil. Asian shares dropped a second day as rising unemployment in the U.S. and the U.K. government’s takeover of Lloyds Banking Group Plc raised speculation the economic slump may deepen. Gold has risen 6.8 percent this year as the benchmark MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 20 percent in the same period. “Investor interest in gold is being bolstered by the troubled international economic environment,” David Moore, chief commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a note today. Gold for immediate delivery fell as much as $4.3, or 0.5 percent, to $935.10 an ounce. The metal traded at $939.01 at 10:20 a.m. in Singapore. Eighteen of 22 traders, investors and analysts surveyed from Tokyo to Chicago last week said gold may rise this week. Bullion slid 0.3 percent last week as investors sold the metal to lock in gains following its climb to an 11-month high of $1,006.29 an ounce Feb. 20. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest such fund backed by bullion, fell for the first time since January 8 to 1,028.99 metric tons on March 6, after holding steady for five days. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver fell 1 percent to $13.25 an ounce, platinum was little changed at $1,073 an ounce, and palladium was down 1.7 percent at $202 an ounce as of 10:05 a.m. in Singapore.

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