Gold gains on safe haven buying

Gold prices advanced on Friday, recovering from the previous session's drop, as global investors continued to put their faith in the yellow metal amid fears of deteriorating economic conditions in the US and eurozone. Investors also bought gold as an alternative investment as risky assets like equities and commodities seem to have gone out of favour for the time being on concern about faltering global economic growth.



Spot gold gained 0.5% to US$1,654.35 an ounce at 12:02 p.m. in Singapore, rebounding from a 0.3% loss. Gold, which touched a record US$1,681.72 yesterday, is up 1.6% this week, set for the longest run of weekly gain since the five weeks ended March 4.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had its biggest fall since February 2009 yesterday after reports this week showed that growth slowed in manufacturing and service industries. Oil is headed for the biggest weekly drop in three months.

December-delivery gold in New York was little changed at US$1,656.60 an ounce, after touching an all-time high of US$1,684.90 yesterday. Holdings in exchange-traded products climbed for a ninth day yesterday, gaining 4.1 metric tons to a record 2,182.572 tons.

Spot silver, which reached a three-month high of US$42.23 an ounce yesterday, gained 0.5% to US$39.085 an ounce. Spot platinum extended its biggest decline in nine months, down 0.7% to US$1,710.50 an ounce. Palladium is down 0.3% to US$746.50 an ounce after falling the most since March yesterday.