Gold, little changed, may climb after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank may buy more bonds, boosting demand for precious metals as alternative assets. Silver gained to a 30-year high.
Gold for immediate delivery was at $US1412.07 an ounce. Seoul time after rising to $US1416.55 in the previous session, the highest level since November 11. The metal rose 3.7 per cent last week, the second straight weekly gain. The February-delivery contract climbed as much as 0.8 per cent to $US1,416.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York.
“That means there will be more liquidity in the markets,” said Park Jong Beom, a trader at Tong Yang Futures Trading in Seoul, referring to Bernanke's comments. “The dollar is poised to weaken further, boosting gold.”
US unemployment may take five years to fall to a normal level and Fed buying of Treasury securities beyond the $US600 billion announced last month are possible, Bernanke said, according to a transcript of an interview on CBS's “60 Minutes” program.
The dollar was little changed against a basket of six major currencies. The Dollar Index dropped by the most in six weeks December 3 after a US government report showed employers added fewer jobs than forecast in November and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 per cent. Bullion typically moves inversely to the US currency. Gold reached a record $US1424.60 on November 9.
Silver for immediate delivery advanced 0.8 per cent to $US29.6437 an ounce, the highest price since March 1980. The metal has advanced 75 per cent this year, outperforming gold's 29 per cent gain.
Palladium climbed 0.2 per cent to $US770.25 an ounce and platinum increased 0.3 per cent to $US1,732 an ounce.