VINACHEM

Gold advanced to the highest levelin more than three months as demand for haven assets increasedon speculation that the U.S. economic recovery will slow. Silverheaded for the longest run of gains since at least 1968.

Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.9 percentto $1,330.03 an ounce, the highest since Oct. 31, and traded at$1,326.25 by 3:21 p.m. in Singapore. Prices climbed 4.1 percentlast week, the biggest increase since the period ended Aug. 16.

Gold rebounded 10 percent in 2014 amid expanding demand forcoins and bars as signs of faltering U.S. growth boostedinvestor appetite for a haven. U.S. factory output unexpectedlyfell in January by the most since May 2009, Federal Reservefigures showed on Feb. 14. Billionaire John Paulson kept hisholdings of the metal unchanged in the fourth quarter, while hedge funds raised bullish bets to a three-month high.

“We’ve seen a significant turn in exchange-traded fundholdings,” said Victor Thianpiriya, an analyst at Australia &New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “People arestarting to look at it and think that sentiment amongst thelonger-term investors is holding or turning for the positive.”

Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-tradedproduct backed by bullion, rose for a third week in the periodended Feb. 14, the longest rally since August, data compiled byBloomberg show. Paulson & Co., the largest investor in thetrust, held 10.23 million shares as of Dec. 31, according to agovernment filing Feb. 14. Paulson has kept the stake intactsince cutting it by half in the three months ended June 30.

ETP Holdings

Bullion tumbled the most since 1981 last year after someinvestors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and money-printing by central banks failed to spur inflation. Holdings ingold-backed exchange-traded funds shrank in 2013 for the firsttime since the first one was introduced in 2003.

Gold for April delivery rose as much as 0.9 percent to$1,329.90 an ounce on the Comex, the highest for a most-activecontract since Oct. 31, and traded at $1,327.80. Spot bullion of99.99 percent purity climbed as much as 1.9 percent to 261.50 yuan a gram ($1,341.25 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange,the highest since Nov. 7.

The Fed’s monthly bond purchases have been reduced to $65billion after cuts of $10 billion at each of its past twomeetings. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that debt buyingisn’t on a “pre-set course.” Gold jumped 70 percent fromDecember 2008 to June 2011 as the central bank pumped more than$2 trillion into the financial system.

Silver for immediate delivery surged as much as 2.2 percentto $21.9791 an ounce, the highest since Nov. 7, and was at$21.8305. Prices are set for the 12th day of gains, the longestrally since at least 1968, according to data compiled byBloomberg. One ounce of gold bought as few as 60.5213 ounces ofsilver today, the least since Jan. 2.

Platinum rose as much as 0.5 percent to $1,434.25 an ounce,the highest since Jan. 27, and was at $1,431.63. Palladiumclimbed as much as 0.6 percent to $742 an ounce, the highestsince Jan. 24, and traded at $740.50.