The Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, for the second time this year, raised its holdings of gold in November as part of measures to diversify its portfolio of foreign exchange reserves. In a statement on Friday, the Bank of Korea said it purchase
The Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, for the second time this year, raised its holdings of gold in November as part of measures to diversify its portfolio of foreign exchange reserves. In a statement on Friday, the Bank of Korea said it purchased 15 tonnes of gold for $850 million in November, four months after it bought an initial 25 tonnes for $1.24 billion between June and July, its first over a span of 13 years. Reuters

Gold prices climbed back over $1,700 per ounce Tuesday as investors seeking safe havens sold stocks and bought gold and silver.

In early afternoon trading on the Comex, gold for December delivery, which closed Monday at $1,678.60, climbed to $1,705.60. In recent trades it hovering close to $1,700.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 51.16 to 11,496.15, the Nasdaq Composite fell 8.69 to 2,514.45 and the S&P 500 declined 4.54 to 1,188.44.

The fact that gold was climbing despite declines in equities may signal that investors are beginning to return to gold as a safe-haven. In recent months gold has been tracking equities as another risky asset rather than as a haven from risky assets.

The dollar was up 0.21 percent against a basket of major currencies. But earlier in the session the dollar fell, and while it was down gold continued in positive territory.

Silver was up more than five percent in early afternoon trading to $32.68 per ounce.

Platinum was virtually unchanged, and palladium gained nearly two percent.

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