Gold gained for a second day, set for a 12th quarterly advance, as investors sought a haven from declining assets including oil and copper on concern European leaders may fail to contain the region’s debt crisis. Immediate-delivery gold rose as much as 1.2 percent to $1,669.07 an ounce and traded at $1,662.20 at 3:17 p.m. in Singapore. Futures gained before reports that economists say may show U.S. durable goods orders dropped, while European consumer confidence may have slumped to a two-year low in September. “The recent price declines have been because other markets are falling and some investors have to sell their gold to meet margin calls,” Dick Poon, precious metals trading manager at Heraeus Ltd., said by phone from Hong Kong. “The debt situation in Europe hasn’t changed and as that goes on, we continue to see strong demand for gold, which will keep prices supported.” Some euro-area countries are demanding private creditors take bigger writedowns on their Greek bond holdings, the Financial Times reported, citing European officials, sending commodities lower and driving the euro down against the dollar. December-delivery bullion advanced as much as 1.2 percent to $1,672 an ounce in New York before trading at $1,664.10. “The only negative for gold that we can see is the recent U.S. dollar rally,” Daiwa Capital Markets analysts including Deep Kapur wrote in a note. “As far as we can tell, the buy-on- dips mentality is still intact.” Platinum Ratio Spot gold has rallied 17 percent this year as investors sought to diversify from declining equities and depreciating currencies. The precious metal, which reached an all-time high of $1,921.15 on Sept. 6, has climbed 11 percent this quarter. The ratio of platinum to gold slumped to the lowest level since 1992, a sign that investors may be concerned the sovereign-debt risk in Europe is escalating, potentially trimming demand for metals with industrial uses. One ounce of platinum bought as little as 0.9386 ounce of gold today. “Platinum and palladium, like silver, are still industrial metals and if there are worries about the economy, the price will go down,” said Poon. Cash silver gained 1.5 percent to $32.37 an ounce while December-delivery futures advanced 2.7 percent to $32.395 an ounce. Spot platinum was little changed at $1,562.18 an ounce and palladium gained 0.9 percent to $653.50 an ounce. To contact the reporter for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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