Gold gained after the International Monetary Fund said that it had finished a program of sales of the metal to boost its finances, removing a source of supply from the global market. Platinum prices also rose.
Immediate-delivery gold advanced as much as 0.4 percent to $1,391.02 an ounce and traded at $1,389.25 at 2:53 p.m. in Singapore. The IMF concluded sales of about 403.3 metric tons, or 13 percent of its reserves, to central banks and other market participants, it said yesterday in a statement, without disclosing the total amount raised.
“The last of the overhang has now gone,” Peter Richardson, chief metals economist at Morgan Stanley in Melbourne, said by phone today. “The market will take that as a positive development,” said Richardson.
More than half of the IMF gold was acquired by the central banks of India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Bangladesh, according to past announcements. The disposal plan was announced in September 2009.
Gold has climbed 27 percent this year, gaining to a record $1,431.25 an ounce this month, and is poised to rise for a 10th consecutive year. Purchases by central banks as part of their efforts to diversify their reserves away from currencies have contributed to the metal’s advance.
The contract for February delivery on the Comex in New York was little changed at $1,390.10 an ounce.
‘In the Wings’
“It’s not clear whether there are new sellers waiting in the wings,” said Morgan Stanley’s Richardson. “The official sector is likely to be net buyers,” he said, referring to central banks.
Gold assets held in exchange-traded products fell about 1 ton to 2,113.7 tons as of Dec. 21 from a record the day before, according to data collected by Bloomberg from 10 providers. Holdings have climbed more than 17 percent this year.
U.S. gross domestic product may have expanded 2.8 percent in the third quarter on an annualized basis, according to the median of a 71-analyst survey by Bloomberg News. That would be more than a previously calculated 2.5 percent gain for the period. The Commerce Department will publish the data today.
“We could see some of today’s gold rally cut by a strong U.S. GDP,” Jeremy Friesen, an analyst at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong, said today in an e-mail. “But I think global uncertainty on the fiscal, monetary and geopolitical front will remain supportive for gold well into 2011.”
The Dollar Index, which gauges the currency’s movement against six major counterparts, dropped as much as 0.3 percent today, declining for the first day in four. Precious metals usually move inversely to the dollar.
Immediate-delivery silver was little changed at $29.3312 an ounce. The metal, which has gained 74 percent this year, is likely to gain more than gold in 2011 as industrial demand strengthens, Credit Agricole SA said in a report yesterday.
Platinum rose 0.3 percent to $1,728.10 an ounce and palladium was little changed at $753.70 an ounce.
-- With assistance from Sandrine Rastello in Washington. Editor: Jake Lloyd-Smith
To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@Bloomberg.net
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