Gold Rises as Investors Seek Store of Value; Silver Declines

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose on speculation investors will seek a store of value in precious metals as the economy weakens and other financial assets falter. Silver declined.

Gold rallied 5 percent last month as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 8.6 percent and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials shed 4 percent. Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund, or ETF, backed by bullion, rose to a record 853.4 metric tons yesterday.

“Rapidly growing ETF holdings are a clear sign of safe- haven buying of gold,” said John Reade, a UBS AG analyst in London. “This is the dominant factor in the gold market at present.”

Gold futures for April delivery rose $3.50, or 0.4 percent, to $910.20 an ounce at 9 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.

Silver futures for March delivery fell 3.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $12.38 an ounce. The metal slumped 24 percent in 2008 while gold gained 5.5 percent.

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