Gold Climbs in N.Y. as Investors Seek Haven From Falling Shares

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Gold climbed in New York, erasing earlier losses, as equities tumbled worldwide, boosting demand for the precious metal as a safe harbor. Silver fell.

U.S. Treasuries rose as investors bought government securities amid a worldwide collapse in shares. The dollar climbed as much as 1.9 percent against a weighted basket of six major currencies before paring gains.

``You're seeing some people buy gold because the panic about the stock market is setting in,'' said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. ``Gold's rallied more than $30 off its lows for the day.''

Gold futures for December delivery gained $15.60, or 2.2 percent, to $730.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal declined 7.3 percent this week and is heading for a 17 percent drop this month, the worst such performance since March 1980.

Silver for December delivery fell 20.5 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $9.295 an ounce. The most-active contract has dropped 38 percent this year, after seven straight annual gains, and is down 24 percent in October.

The outlook for silver is ``moderately bearish'' while for gold, it is ``bearish, as inflation risk is moving away and all indicators are red,'' Frederic Lasserre, the global head of commodities research at Societe Generale SA in Paris, and Stephanie Aymes, an analyst, said today in a report. ``A global recession is confirmed by weak corporate results.''

Market Turmoil

The MSCI World Index of developed markets has dropped 8.1 percent this week. Russia's Micex Stock Exchange stopped trading until Oct. 28 after shares slumped 14 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost as much as 6.1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 5.8 percent.

The euro touched $1.2497 today, a two-year low, before paring losses. It reached a record $1.6038 on July 15.

Earlier, gold dropped as much as 4.7 percent and was headed for the biggest weekly decline since Jan. 25, 1980.

``People are short covering,'' said Joel Crane, metals strategist for Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ``Some funds are forced to cover their positions after this week's unexpected drop.''

After the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. on Sept. 15 triggered a $700 billion bailout package by the U.S. government, gold traded as high as $936.30 on Oct. 10 as investors sought a haven. The metal also touched $681 today as investors sold futures to cover losses in other markets.

``The market wants to liquidate everything, everywhere,'' said Dennis Gartman, an economist and editor of the Suffolk, Virginia-based Gartman Letter.

Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, fell to 747.1 metric tons yesterday. It reached a record 770.6 tons on Oct. 10.

Outlook

Gold may fare better than other commodities as a global slowdown reduces demand for raw materials. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities is down 29 percent this year, paced by a 33 percent decline in crude oil. Gold has lost 13 percent.

``There's some value going into the metal,'' said Frank McGhee, head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. ``Gold's overall value is holding. Investors should be safe-haven buying here but not using leveraged money. Gold can scream out and turn higher any time, but investors need to be comfortable that gold can go down before it goes higher.''

Gold may trade at $600 to adjust for the value of the dollar, analysts at Deutsche Bank said today in a report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.