Investors have bought almost 500,000 ounces of gold since Oct. 30, based on assets in five gold exchange-traded funds including Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities on the London Stock Exchange. Gold has climbed 7.7 percent since Oct. 23, as the U.S. currency headed for a third weekly loss against the euro and yen.
Investor demand ``has picked up in the past couple of days,'' Simon Weeks, head of precious-metals trading at ScotiaMocatta in London, said in a telephone interview. ``It suits people to be bearish dollar and bullish gold.''
Gold for immediate delivery rose $1.80, or 0.3 percent, to $626.50 an ounce at 11:56 a.m. in London. The last time prices rose for nine straight days was in June 1986, when gold was trading at around $345 an ounce. Prices are up 4.4 percent this week, heading for their fourth weekly gain and the biggest advance since mid-July.
The five exchange-traded funds have 16.3 million ounces, up 3.1 percent from 15.8 million ounces on Oct. 30, according to the Web site of Exchange Traded Gold.
The dollar traded at $1.2777 against the euro.
