By Nicholas Larkin and Glenys Sim March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Gold gained in London, heading for a sixth quarterly increase, as a weaker dollar and improving economy increased demand for the precious metal. The dollar slipped as much as 0.4 percent against the euro as German unemployment unexpectedly fell in March and before a report that may show U.S. companies added 40,000 jobs this month. Gold typically moves inversely to the greenback. A sixth quarterly gain would be the metal’s best performance since 1979. “Gold for the moment continues to consolidate with good volumes of physical and investment demand providing support,” James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, said in a report. “Gold continues to take direction from the euro- dollar.” Gold for immediate delivery added $6.35, or 0.6 percent, to $1,109.95 an ounce at 10:07 a.m. local time. The metal is up 1.2 percent this quarter. Bullion for June delivery was 0.5 percent higher at $1,110.79 on the Comex in New York. The European currency has fallen 6 percent versus the dollar this quarter amid concern Greece’s debt woes would derail a recovery in the euro region. Gold climbed 24 percent last year as the dollar declined and as central banks and governments maintained low interest rates and spent trillions of dollars to stimulate economies. U.S. companies added the most jobs since December 2007, according to a Bloomberg survey before ADP Employer Services releases the figures today. That would also be the first increase since January 2008. ‘Physical Buying’ “Physical buying is still very strong as people are expecting the economy to continue to pick up,” said Ng Cheng Thye, head of bullion at Standard Bank Asia. “We’re seeing prices supported above $1,100 as the uptick in physical demand offsets any slowdown in investment demand.” Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest consumer, jumped by more than five times this month as jewelers stockpiled the metal to meet wedding-season demand, according to the Bombay Bullion Association. The wedding season in India runs from November to December and from late March through early May. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, have increased 2.1 percent this month and stood at 1,129.82 metric tons yesterday, unchanged from the previous day, according to the company’s Web site. Among metals for immediate delivery in London, silver rose 1.3 percent to $17.525 an ounce. Platinum added as much as 1.7 percent to $1,646.88.05 an ounce, the highest price since Jan. 20, and was last at $1,642.75. Palladium gained 1.7 percent to $478.98 an ounce. Lonmin Plc, the world’s third-largest platinum producer, yesterday said its No. 1 furnace will take 30 to 40 days to repair after shutting down because of an incident. To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net.

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