BLBG:Gold Extends Biggest Advance in a Month as Debt Optimism Helps Buoy Euro
Gold extended its biggest advance in a month as optimism that policy makers will resolve Europe’s debt crisis bolstered the euro, boosting the appeal of the metal denominated in U.S. currency.
Bullion for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.5 percent to $1,684.63 an ounce, the highest level since Sept. 23, before trading at $1,681.38 at 12:11 p.m. in Singapore. The metal jumped 2.4 percent yesterday, the most since Sept. 8. Futures for December increased 0.7 percent to $1,682.70.
“Gold rose on U.S. dollar weakness,” Lachlan Shaw, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in an e-mail today. Markets are rallying “on better EU sentiment,” he wrote.
The euro traded near its strongest in almost three weeks after a China state-run fund said it began buying shares of the nation’s biggest banks, bolstering Asian stocks and demand for higher-yielding assets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged at the weekend to deliver a plan in three weeks to stem Europe’s debt crisis.
The euro traded at $1.3626 from $1.3642 in New York yesterday, when it reached $1.3699, the strongest level since Sept. 21. China’s state-run Central Huijin Investment Ltd. said it began buying shares in four lenders after valuations dropped below levels reached during the global financial crisis.
“A plan to end Europe’s debt crisis is bearish for gold, however until investors believe whatever plan they have is going to work, gold will be supported,” Wang Xiaoli, chief investment strategist at Citic Futures Co., said in an e-mail today. “We’re in the peak seasonal demand period now and that should also help buoy gold prices.”
In India, the world’s largest consumer, the peak-demand period began in August with Eid, continues in October with Diwali, and is followed by the traditional wedding season. In China, the second-biggest, demand typically picks up during the National Day holidays at the start of this month through till the Lunar New Year in January.
Cash silver climbed as much as 1.5 percent to $32.565 an ounce and traded at $32.195. Spot platinum gained 0.9 percent to $1,537 an ounce while palladium was little changed at $615.
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
