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Gold Rises as Energy Costs Surge, Dollar Slumps; Silver Gains

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose to the highest in almost four weeks as a weaker dollar and soaring energy costs boosted the precious metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Silver jumped 3 percent.

Crude-oil futures surged to a record $129.58 a barrel and have doubled in the past year. The dollar fell the most in a month against the euro. A government report today showed U.S. producer prices, excluding food and fuel, rose more than forecast in April. Food costs last month surged the most in 18 years. Gold still is down 11 percent from a record on March 17.

``Gold is attempting to hold on to the rally on the strength of the crude and the euro,'' said Frank McGhee, the head metals trader at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. ``The market, technically, is turning itself around.''

Gold futures for June delivery climbed $16.30, or 1.8 percent, to $922.10 an ounce at 11:56 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price reached $922.70, the highest for a most-active contract since April 23.

Silver futures for July delivery jumped 51.7 cents to $17.545 an ounce. Before today, the price advanced 14 percent this year, while gold climbed 8.1 percent.

The dollar declined as much as 1.1 percent against the euro after the International Monetary Fund said the U.S. housing slump still poses ``serious risks'' to financial markets. European officials also signaled borrowing costs in the euro- region may rise after the financial crisis ends.

``The dollar is the overriding factor for the gold market,'' said Marty McNeill, a trader at R.F. Lafferty Inc. in New York. ``The key for gold is where the dollar goes.''

Borrowing Costs

Seven U.S. interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve since Sept. 18 helped send the dollar to an all-time low against the euro. Since then, gold has gained 27 percent, reaching a record $1,033.90 an ounce on March 17.

Still, high gold prices have discouraged some buyers. Excluding investment funds, demand dropped to a five-year low in the first quarter, the producer-funded World Gold Council said in a report today. Consumption in India, the biggest user, plunged 50 percent from a year earlier.

Purchases by large investors helped send gold to the highest ever on March 17. Since then, investment in the StreetTracks Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, has fallen to 583.9 metric tons as of May 19 from a record 663.8 tons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at [e-mail].