By Glenys Sim Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gold climbed as some investors bought the precious metal as a store of value on speculation U.S. borrowing costs will remain low, keeping the dollar depressed. Bullion’s decline yesterday for the first time in four days also lured buyers. Gold rallied 24 percent last year as the dollar slid 4.2 percent against a basket of six major currencies amid record low U.S. interest rates. The dollar index was little changed today. “Gold is being supported by people buying on dips,” said Liu Yangyi, trader at Beijing Zhong Jing He Investment. “The outlook for U.S. interest rates and the dollar will continue to determine gold’s direction.” Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.6 percent to $1,124.85 an ounce and traded at $1,123.85 by 2:43 p.m. in Singapore. February-delivery bullion on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.5 percent to $1,123.80. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by the metal, were unchanged at 1,128.75 metric tons yesterday, 0.5 percent lower than the record 1,134 tons reached on June 1, 2008. “Precious metals become more attractive in an environment of falling interest rates,” Stefan Graber, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, wrote in a note today. “Yields reached very low levels in 2009 and if they turn higher we could see renewed profit-taking in the precious metals space, particularly for gold and silver.” Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.2 percent to $17.8250 an ounce, palladium gained 0.5 percent to $421.63 an ounce, and platinum rose 0.3 percent to $1,534 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net

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