Glenys Sim
Bloomberg
Friday, May 22, 2009
Gold traded near the highest in two months, set for a third weekly increase, as the dollar fell against the euro, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment.
The Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against six major currencies, has lost 3.2 percent this week on speculation that the U.S. government’s creditworthiness may be weakening, after Standard & Poor’s yesterday cut its outlook on the U.K.’s AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable.”
“Investor interest in gold was bolstered by the declines in international equity markets and the soft tone of the U.S. dollar,” David Moore, chief commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in an e-mail today.
Immediate-delivery gold was little changed at $952.45 an ounce at 12:27 p.m. in Singapore after touching $956.55 yesterday, the highest since March 23. The metal has climbed about 7.2 percent this month and is about 19 percent higher than this year’s low of $802.59 an ounce. Silver, which dropped 0.2 percent to $14.49 an ounce, is still up 3.5 percent this week.
Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach, California, said yesterday that the U.S.’s top AAA credit rating will “eventually” be lost. “The markets are beginning to anticipate the possibility of” a downgrade, Gross said.
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