By Nicholas Larkin and Pham-Duy Nguyen Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Gold jumped to a record as the slumping dollar boosted bullion’s appeal as an alternative asset. Other precious metals also gained. Gold futures touched $1,174 an ounce in New York, the highest ever, as the dollar fell as much as 0.9 percent against the euro, the most in two weeks. Gold has gained 32 percent this year as investors and central banks increased their holdings of the precious metal to preserve wealth. Russia’s central bank said it bought more gold last month. “All this buying shows no confidence in the dollar,” said Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metals trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva. Gold futures for December delivery rose $24.60, or 2.1 percent, to $1,171.40 an ounce at 10:47 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. A close at that price would be the biggest gain in more than two weeks. In London, gold for immediate delivery increased $20.67, or 1.8 percent, to $1,171.27 an ounce after earlier touching a record $1,174. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, slid as much as 0.9 percent on speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold U.S. interest rates at historic lows indefinitely. The Fed cut the target range for its benchmark lending rate to zero percent to 0.25 percent in December. The dollar index has fallen 9.8 percent this year. Russia’s central bank increased its gold holding to 19.5 million ounces last month from 19 million ounces the month before, Bank Rossii said on its Web site. Government Buying Governments, the biggest holders of gold, have been expanding their bullion reserves, helping to spur an 8.3 percent rally in the metal’s price from Oct. 20 to Nov. 20. India’s central bank bought 200 metric tons from the International Monetary Fund in October. Mauritius and Sri Lanka also have been buying gold. Dennis Gartman, an economist and the editor of the Gartman Letter in Suffolk, Virginia, told investors to buy gold denominated in other currencies. “Owning gold across the currency spectrum has effectively hedged the dollar exposure,” Gartman said in a note to clients. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, were unchanged for a second day at 1,117.49 tons as of Nov. 20, according to its Web site. The fund’s cache reached a record 1,134 tons on June 1. American Eagle Sales of American Eagle gold coins by the U.S. Mint jumped 88 percent this year through October, to 1.07 million ounces, from the first 10 months of last year, data on the mint’s Web site shows. The mint has sold 99,500 ounces of the coins so far this month. The U.K.’s Royal Mint said last week that it quadrupled output of gold coins in the third quarter. Silver futures for December delivery climbed 41.5 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $18.855 an ounce, after touching $18.935 earlier, a 16-month high. Before today, the metal rose 63 percent in 2009. To contact the reporters on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net.

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