Gold, trading little changed, may gain after holdings of the metal in exchange-traded products climbed to a record and China said it helped the European Union with its debt problems, boosting the euro against the dollar.
Immediate-delivery bullion traded at $1,386.78 an ounce at 5:20 p.m. in Melbourne, $1.53 higher. Bullion for February delivery on the Comex in New York was also little changed at $1,387.60 an ounce.
Gold assets in exchange-traded products, or ETPs, reached a record 2,114.6 metric tons as of yesterday, according to data collected by Bloomberg from 10 providers. Holdings have gained 18 percent this year as currencies have weakened. Spot gold reached a record $1,431.25 an ounce on Dec. 7.
?The market is finding a reason to look to gold at the moment, but it is clearly not pushing too high,? said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd. ?People are finding it very difficult to sell gold while the ETF balances are strong and they are continuing to rise.?
Moody?s Investors Service lowered Ireland?s credit rating by five levels to Baa1 on Dec. 17, the day after it placed Greece on review for a possible downgrade. Ireland on Dec. 15 voted to accept an 85 billion-euro aid package from European governments and the International Monetary Fund.
?Concrete Action?
China supports the IMF?s measures and ?has taken concrete action to help some EU members counter the sovereign-debt crisis,? Vice Premier Wang Qishan said at the start of the Third EU-China High-Level Economic & Trade Dialogue today.
The euro rose to $1.3170 as of 2:24 p.m. in Tokyo after yesterday dropping to a two-week low against the dollar. The precious metal often trades inversely to the U.S. currency.
The European debt ?jitters and some technical factors, as well as the weaker U.S. dollar are probably the main influence? on prices, said Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne.
The metal for immediate delivery has gained 26 percent this year, set for a 10th annual gain, as the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe and so-called quantitative easing in the U.S. hurt currencies and aided demand.
?It should push through fresh record highs early next year,? Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said on Bloomberg Television?s First Up program today. ?We see it moving toward a peak of around $1,550 by around September.?
Silver for immediate delivery was little changed at $29.3550 an ounce at 5:53 p.m. Melbourne time. Silver holdings in ETPs fell 0.7 percent to 15,073.22 tons as of yesterday
Spot palladium rose 0.5 percent to $746.50 an ounce, while immediate-delivery platinum was little changed $1,710.95 an ounce.
To contact the reporter on this story: Wendy Pugh in Melbourne at wpugh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
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