Investors digging precious metals as faith in paper currency 'rapidly ebbing'

Gold futures surged to a record $1,588.90 an ounce as the dollar's slump and the European debt crisis spurred demand for precious metals as alternative assets. Silver surged the most since March 2009. The greenback fell as much as much as 1 percent against a six-currency basket after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress that the central bank is prepared to provide additional stimulus to bolster the economy. Yesterday, Ireland became the third nation in the European Union to have its credit rating cut below investment grade. “The Fed is talking about more liquidity, not less,” said Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago. “That's more money for the markets, and gold is enthused. Investors are running away from currency volatility.” Gold futures for August delivery climbed $23.20, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $1,585.50 at 1:42 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the seventh straight gain. The previous intraday record of $1,577.40 was on May 2. The spot price of the metal priced in euros and pounds also rose to all-time highs today. Since Dec. 1, 2008, gold has doubled as the Fed kept interest rates at a record low and governments spent trillions of dollars to spur global growth. The Fed's second round of so- called quantitative easing, known as QE2 among investors, ended in June. Yesterday, tonnage holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold jumped 1 percent, the most in a year. ‘Currency Exhaustion' “People are getting currency exhaustion,” said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago. “With the Fed mulling over a possible QE3, which will dilute the dollar, gold is the main beneficiary.” The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials rose to a four-week high, led by precious metals and grains. Gold for immediate delivery has advanced 11 percent, heading for an 11th straight annual gain, the longest rally since at least 1920. Before today, the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities rose 1.5 percent in 2011, and Treasuries returned 3.6 percent, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index. The dollar had dropped 4.1 percent against the six-currency basket. ‘Shock Waves' Bernanke said today that a failure by Congress to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit would lead to a “major crisis” and throw “shock waves” through the financial system. “We're in a very difficult financial period in the world,” Martin Murenbeeld, the chief economist at Toronto-based DundeeWealth Inc., which manages more than $50 billion, said on July 11. “The faith in paper currency is rapidly ebbing.” Investor holdings of ETPs backed by gold, silver, platinum and palladium have climbed to more than $126 billion. Silver futures for September delivery rose $2.517, or 7.1 percent, to $38.151 an ounce on the Comex, the biggest gain since March 19, 2009. Platinum futures for October delivery gained $30.70, or 1.8 percent, to $1,767 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Palladium futures for September delivery advanced $16.55, or 2.2 percent, to $784 an ounce. --Bloomberg News--