By Nicholas Larkin and Glenys Sim March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Gold may rise in New York and London for the first time in three days as industrial metals climb on Chinese import figures and the dollar’s rally stalls. Copper advanced as much as 0.8 percent in London after China said imports of refined metal climbed 10 percent in February from the prior month. The dollar was little changed against the euro after earlier gaining as much as 0.4 percent. Bullion typically moves inversely to the greenback. “Recent data from China has been bullish,” Dan Smith, an analyst at Standard Chartered Plc in London, said today by phone. “When people become more optimistic about China, it helps lift the whole complex, including gold.” Gold futures for April delivery rose $1, or 0.1 percent, to $1,123.30 an ounce at 8:37 a.m. on the Comex in New York, paring an advance of as much as 0.5 percent. Gold for immediate delivery in London was 0.2 percent higher at $1,123.96. Bullion increased to $1,124.50 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from $1,115.75 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. “Gold’s getting a small lift from base metals,” said Jia Wei, an analyst at Jiangsu Suwu Futures Brokerage Co. The precious metal is “hovering in the $1,100 to $1,200 range as investors vacillate between liking and avoiding risk.” Greek Deficit The euro has slid against the dollar over the past month on investor concern that Greece will struggle to curb the region’s largest government deficit. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said yesterday U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support for steps being taken to deal with the crisis. Gold futures gained 24 percent last year as governments and central banks worldwide maintained low interest rates and spent trillions to stimulate economies. The Federal Reserve will likely hold its target rate near zero for the next “three or four meetings,” Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said yesterday. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by the metal, were unchanged yesterday at 1,116.12 metric tons, according to the company’s Web site. Silver for May delivery in New York gained 0.3 percent to $17.39 an ounce. Platinum for April delivery climbed as much as 1.3 percent to $1,618.20 an ounce, the highest in almost seven weeks, and was last at $1,610.60. Palladium for June delivery rose 0.6 percent to $472 an ounce. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its 2010 platinum forecast by 22 percent to $1,750 an ounce and increased its palladium estimate by 35 percent to $500 an ounce, according to an e-mailed report. Palladium, used in automotive pollution- control gear and jewelry, is up 16 percent this year after more than doubling in 2009. “Industrial demand from the global automobile sector, particularly from China and other Asian countries, looks set to remain robust,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director of brokerage GoldCore Ltd. in Dublin. “This and increasing investment demand has led to concerns about increasing tightness in the palladium market.” --Editors: Dan Weeks, John Deane. To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net

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