Gold gained for the third straight session in New York on speculation that policy makers will announce additional stimulus measures to boost growth, increasing demand for bullion as a hedge against inflation.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said he would support a variety of measures to generate faster job growth, underscoring his preference for more action. Spain has a “fair chance” to demonstrate its capacity to solve its banking woes after indicating it will require a bailout, Finland’s Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said.

“The market is expecting more stimulus, and that is supportive of gold,” Phil Streible, a senior commodity broker at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago, said in a telephone interview.

Gold futures for August delivery advanced 1.1 percent to settle at $1,613.80 an ounce at 1:57 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices gained 0.6 percent in the previous two sessions.

Bullion surged 70 percent from the end of December 2008 to June 2011 as the Fed kept borrowing costs at a record low and bought $2.3 trillion of debt in two rounds of so-called quantitative easing.

Silver futures for July delivery jumped 1.2 percent to $28.949 an ounce in New York, gaining for the second straight day.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum futures for July delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1,454.40 an ounce. Palladium futures for September delivery slipped 0.1 percent to $624.25 an ounce.