Gold, little changed, may decline as concerns that Ireland’s debt problems will widen to Portugal and Spain weakened the euro against the dollar, curbing demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Immediate-delivery gold declined as much as 0.3 percent to $1,371.70 an ounce before trading at $1,373.90 an ounce at 11:29 a.m. in Melbourne, trimming this week’s advance to 1.6 percent. “We are following the euro to a certain extent and the euro is back to its weak point,” Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd., said by phone. European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said this week that governments can increase the size of the European Union-led bailout fund if necessary to restore confidence in the euro. Ireland on Nov. 21 applied to the EU for a rescue to bail out its banking system. The euro weakened 0.2 percent to $1.3337 as of 8:35 a.m. in Tokyo after reaching $1.3285 on Nov. 24, the lowest level since Sept. 22. Most markets were closed in the U.S. yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Still, bullion is heading for a weekly advance on demand for a haven investment after North Korea on Nov. 24 fired artillery into South Korean territory for the first time in half a century. “That is still in the back of people’s minds,” Heathcote said. “There’s a possibility of further conflict and that is helping to support gold.” South Korea will revise battle manuals and increase military strength on its maritime border, the presidential office said in a statement yesterday after an emergency Cabinet meeting. Silver for immediate delivery declined 0.2 percent to $27.5413 an ounce, a 0.8 percent gain this week. The price reached $29.36 an ounce on Nov. 9, the highest level since 1980. Palladium rose 0.2 percent to $699.75 an ounce, advancing for a third day, paring this week’s loss to 0.4 percent. Platinum was little changed at $1,660 an ounce, 0.2 percent lower this week. Both metals are used mostly to make jewelry and pollution-control devices for cars. To contact the reporter on this story: Wendy Pugh in Melbourne wpugh@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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