Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures headed for the biggest gain in 10
weeks on increased demand from investors after reports that Iran
produced its first nuclear fuel rod and as the dollar weakened. Silver
also gained.
A domestically-made rod was inserted into the core of
Tehran's atomic research reactor after performance tests, the Iranian
Students News Agency reported yesterday. The dollar fell against the
euro on signs that manufacturing is expanding in the U.S. and China.
Blackstone Group LP's Byron Wien, who had correctly predicted last
year's gain in gold, said bullion will rally 15 percent in 2012 to
$1,800 an ounce.
"Fear trade is back because of Iran," Adam
Klopfenstein, a market strategist at Archer Financial Services Inc. in
Chicago, said in a telephone interview. "Also, we are seeing buying
across commodities because of the weaker dollar."
Gold futures for February delivery climbed 2.3 percent
to $1,603.40 an ounce at 12:40 p.m. on the Comex in New York, heading
for the biggest gain since Oct. 25. While prices rallied 10 percent last
year, the 11th straight annual advance, the metal slumped 10 percent in
December and touched $1,523.90 on Dec. 29, the lowest since July 7.
"Accommodative monetary policies throughout the
developed world cause a renewed migration to hard assets by individual
investors and sovereign-wealth funds," Wien wrote in a report today.
Hedge funds and other money managers cut bets on
higher prices for gold futures by 4.5 percent to 111,919 contracts in
the week ended Dec. 27, the lowest level since January 2009, U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.
"Improved physical interest is likely to provide good
support," James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, wrote
today in a report. The drop in speculators' positions on the Comex is
"suggesting plenty of upside price potential once sentiment improves,"
he said.
Silver futures for March delivery jumped 5.8 percent
to $29.53 an ounce on the Comex, heading for the biggest gain since Nov.
22. Silver will rise to $40, Wien said.
--Editors: Steve Stroth, Daniel Enoch
To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net;
Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
