Gold prices advanced by the most in more than a week as declining global equity markets boosted demand for haven assets.
The MSCI All-Country World Index of shares retreated as much as 1.6 percent today. A Bloomberg customized gauge tracking 20 emerging-market currencies dropped 3 percent in January, the worst start to a year since 2009. Central banks from Turkey to South Africa have raised interest rates in a bid to defend their currencies from weakening. Gold extended gains after a report signaled slower U.S. manufacturing.
Prices “are being boosted by some more safe-haven buying interest amid a still-uncertain market place,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., a research company in Montreal, said in a report. “The past two weeks have seen keener risk aversion in the market.”
Gold futures for April delivery advanced 1.6 percent to settle at $1,259.90 an ounce at 1:41 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest gain since Jan. 23.
Bloomberg
