Gold Tops $1,910 for First Time

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Gold advanced to an all-time high above $1,910 as investors sought to protect their wealth against financial turmoil amid speculation that the global economy is slowing. Platinum gained to the highest in more than three years.

Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.8 percent to $1,913.50 an ounce before trading little changed at $1,897.13 an ounce at 9:29 a.m. in Singapore. The metal is up 17 percent in August, heading for its best monthly performance since 1982. Silver gained to the most expensive in more than three months.

“Gold has continued to blast ahead even with a relatively strengthening U.S. dollar, strongly performing treasuries and other safe havens,” Peter Richardson, chief metals economist at Morgan Stanley Australia Ltd., said by phone from Melbourne. “All of that tells me that this is really all about preserving real purchasing power.”

December-delivery gold rose as much as 1.4 percent to a record $1,917.90 an ounce. Bullion priced in euros, sterling, Swiss francs, South African rand and Australian and New Zealand dollars jumped to all-time highs. June-delivery gold on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and December-delivery metal on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed to their highest ever.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may signal additional measures to stimulate the economy at a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week, potentially weakening the dollar. Yields on U.S. Treasuries touched record lows this month as global equities slumped.

Spot silver climbed as much as 1.1 percent to $44.25 an ounce, the highest since May 3, and traded at $43.5075 an ounce. December-delivery silver jumped 2.1 percent to $44.295. Cash platinum advanced as much as 0.7 percent to $1,916.75 an ounce, the highest price since July 2008, and traded at $1,898.75. Palladium fell 0.4 percent to $760.75.