VINACHEM

Gold and silver rose to 16-weekhighs in New York on speculation that weakening U.S. growth andturmoil in Ukraine will boost demand for the precious metals asa haven.

Economic activity in the U.S., as measured by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s national index, for January was atminus 0.39, compared with analysts’ median estimate of minus0.2. A below-zero reading indicates below-trend growth.Ukraine’s interim government said the country needs $35 billionof financial assistance to avoid default as it issued an arrestwarrant for fleeing ex-PresidentViktor Yanukovych.

“There is some safe-haven buying because of continuedsigns of slowing growth in the U.S.,” Tom Power, a seniorcommodity broker at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago, saidin a telephone interview. “Concerns about Ukraine remain.”

Gold futures for April delivery climbed 1.1 percent tosettle at $1,338 an ounce at 1:43 p.m. on the Comex in New York,after touching $1,339.20, the highest for a most-active contractsince Oct. 31.

After slumping last year by the most since 1981, gold rose11 percent since the end of December and is headed for a secondmonthly gain. Bullion prices rebounded this year even as theFederal Reserve continued slowing stimulus.

“The market is only reacting over U.S. figures,” Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS(Switzerland) SA in Geneva, said today by telephone. “Thepolitical situation has been rather tense. There’s somespeculative interest in going into gold as a safe haven.”

Bullion surged 70 percent from December 2008 to June 2011as the central bank pumped more than $2 trillion into thefinancial system.

CFTC Data

Hedge funds other money managers increased their net-long gold position by 31 percent to a 16-week high of 90,942contracts in the week to Feb. 18, U.S. Commodity Futures TradingCommission data show. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded products rose 3 metric tons to 1,739.2 tons on Feb. 21, datacompiled by Bloomberg show. They fell to the lowest level sinceOctober 2009 on Feb. 19.

Analysts are split on the outlook for prices. Gold has lostits luster and will decline to $1,011 in December as the Fedtapers and the dollar strengthens, Westpac Banking Corp. saidFeb. 20. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees prices dropping to $1,050by the end of the year. UBS AG said Feb. 19 that the metal has“started to shed its stigma,” and increased its 2014 forecastto $1,300 from $1,200.

Silver futures for delivery in May rose 1.3 percent to$22.089 an ounce, after climbing to $22.215, the highest sinceOct. 31. Trading was more than double the average in the past100 days, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Prices have risen 14percent this year.

Palladium futures for delivery in June added 0.4 percent to$745.35 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Platinum futures for April delivery gained 0.9 percent to$1,441.40 an ounce, the second straight advance, amid concernthat an ongoing strike will crimp output from South Africa, thebiggest producer.