Gold climbs in Asia as panic selling ends

SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Gold prices set to end the week on a higher note, following oil, as regional stocks climbed and panic selling eased.
Unrest in the Middle East and Japan’s nuclear crisis also boosted demand for the metal as a store of value.
Spot gold was seen trading at $1411.97 an ounce at 12.30 p.m while April-delivery contract for bullion futures was at $1,412.80 an ounce.
Silver also climbed to $34.84 an ounce, paring this week’s loss to 3 percent. Palladium for immediate delivery strengthened 1.9 percent to $722.50 an ounce, recovering from a three-month low and trimming its weekly loss to 4.9 percent. Platinum gained 0.8 percent to $1,713.50 an ounce, falling 3.8 percent this week.
Analysts said the precious metal is likely to remain higher on sustained buying from bargain hunters.
Stronger crude oil price also offer a strong lift to gold, as higher oil prices are seen as inflationary, and investors usually purchase gold as a hedge against inflation, they added.
Gold also received some support as protests in Bahrain and tensions in Libya raised further concerns about the stability of the Middle East, prompting safe-haven flows into the precious metal.
Fears over the escalating nuclear crisis in Japan prompted gold price slump to 1,380.70 dollars per ounce on March 15, the lowest since Feb. 17, as investors flocked to sell assets to raise cash and protect their portfolio through these disastrous events.
On Thursday, Gold for April delivery added $8.10, or 0.6%, to $1,404.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

(Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Gold-climbs-in-Asia-as-panic-selling-ends-37352-3-1.html)