Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Gold advanced for a second day as a drop in the dollar and an improving outlook for global economies fueled demand for precious metals and other commodities. Bullion strengthened as the Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, fell for a third day after the Federal Reserve left the benchmark interest rate between zero and 0.25 percent and said the recession in the U.S. is easing. Expectations for a weaker dollar over the next six months increased, according to 2,345 respondents from New York to Tokyo to London in the Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index. “A weak dollar and no change in U.S. monetary policy from the Federal Reserve Monetary Committee triggered renewed buying activities in precious metals,” said Stefan Graber, a metals analyst with Credit Suisse Group. “We think that gold prices could head for another test of the important resistance at $959 in the days ahead.” Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.4 percent to $950.45 an ounce before trading at $950.32 at 8:48 a.m. in Singapore. The metal is up 7.8 percent this year. Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 72 cents, or 1 percent, to $70.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $70.78 a barrel at 8:49 a.m. in Singapore. Still, the metal may decline in the short term, Barclays Capital Inc. said. “Near-term odds favor further downside in the sessions ahead,” Jordan Kotick and other analysts wrote in a report yesterday. While the price remains below $960, there is the possibility of a move toward support at $940 and then toward the “more important” $921 to $925 area, the analysts said. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, were unchanged at 1,065.49 metric tons as of Aug. 12, according to the company’s Web site. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver was up 0.1 percent at $14.555 an ounce, platinum rose 0.8 percent to $1,250 an ounce and palladium added 0.1 percent to $272.75.

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