Gold rose after data showed retail sales in Japan increased less than forecast last month, boosting speculation the Bank of Japan (8301) will expand monetary stimulus. Gold for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.3 percent to $1,716.05 an ounce and was at $1,714.40 at 11:39 a.m. in Singapore. Bullion for December delivery rose as much as 0.3 percent to $1,716.70 an ounce on the Comex. The U.S. securities industry canceled all stock trading as Hurricane Sandy headed toward New York City. Retail sales rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier, the Trade Ministry said in Tokyo, after a revised 1.7 percent gain in August. The median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1 percent increase. The BoJ meets tomorrow to decide whether to add monetary stimulus with all but one of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expecting the central bank to add to easing at the meeting. “There’d be some heightened level of expectation the Bank of Japan would have to move on some sort of further stimulus,� said Gavin Wendt, founder and senior resource analyst at Mine Life Pty in Sydney. The government last week announced 750 billion yen ($9.4 billion) of stimulus to shore up growth in the third-largest economy. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded products expanded to a record 2,585.42 metric tons on Oct. 26, according to data tracked by Bloomberg. Gold of 99.99 percent purity on the Shanghai Gold Exchange climbed as much as 1 percent to 345.99 yuan a gram, and was at 344.97 yuan. Trading volumes were 4,004 kilograms on Oct. 26 from 4,467 kilograms on Oct. 25. Spot silver traded little changed at $32.1063 an ounce after falling as much as 0.4 percent to $31.9675. Platinum for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.7 percent to $1,556.50 an ounce and was at $1,553.50. Palladium advanced 0.4 percent to $600.50 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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