Gold gain as Europe debt woes spur investor demand

LONDON: Gold on Friday gained for the first time in three days as concern about Europe's debt crisis spurs demand for the metal as a protection of wealth.

The gold rose USD 5.90, or 0.3 per cent, to USD 1,727.68 an ounce. Prices yesterday fell to USD 1,710.50, the lowest since November 1, and down 3.4 per cent this week.

Silver also gained 1.3 per cent to USD 32.11 an ounce after sliding to USD 30.96, the lowest since October 21.

Gold headed for the first weekly drop in four as the euro weakened this week amid concern European policy makers can't stop the debt crisis from spreading to larger economies including Spain, Italy and France.

European equities are down in the period as the cost of insuring against losses on Italian and Spanish debt rose to records.

Bullion is in the eleenth year of a bull market and prices reached a record 1,921.15 dollar on September 6 as investors sought to diversify away from equities and some currencies.