By Kim Kyoungwha Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Gold advanced for a second day, paring a weekly decline, on speculation that deepening fiscal woes in Greece may boost investor demand for the metal as a haven asset. Gold for immediate delivery gained as much as 0.3 percent to $1,109.30 an ounce and traded at $1,108.15 at 1:13 p.m. in Singapore. Bullion is down 1 percent this week having declined for three days after the dollar reached a nine-month high against the euro. The impact of a strong dollar “is being offset by some of continued sovereign debt downgrade concerns in Europe,” said Ben Westmore, Sydney-based analyst with National Australian Bank. “As a safe-haven property, investors are buying gold more than selling it based on the U.S. dollar strength.” The dollar yesterday neared last week’s nine-month high after Moody’s Investors Service said it may lower Greece’s credit rating within months. Finance ministers this month put more pressure on the country to rein in its deficit, the European Union’s biggest. Gold prices are poised for strong gains as a “good hedge against volatile times,” Graham Tuckwell, chairman of ETF Securities Ltd., said on Bloomberg Television today. There’s “a lot of safety in commodities, particularly in gold,” he said, adding that he sees “substantial upside” for bullion. Gains may be limited should the dollar stage a strong upturn, Westmore said. The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the dollar’s value, fell 0.2 percent today. Eleven of 18 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 61 percent, said bullion would fall next week. Five forecast higher prices and two were neutral. Silver gained 0.6 percent to $16.175 an ounce, platinum was little changed at $1,532.20 an ounce and palladium climbed 0.5 percent to $423.45 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Kyoungwha Kim in Singapore at Kkim19@bloomberg.net

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