Gold advanced for the second straight session after economic reports signaled improving prospects for demand in China and the US. The Institute for Supply Management's factory index rose to 53.4 in March from 52.4 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona- based group's data showed today. Fifty is the dividing line between growth and contraction. China's logistics federation and the National Bureau of Statistics said a Purchasing Managers' Index touched a one-year high of 53.1 last month. “There is a sense of relief that the growth story in the US is intact, and the Chinese numbers are helpful,” Sterling Smith, a market analyst at Country Hedging in St. Paul, Minnesota, said. Gold futures for June delivery climbed 0.5 per cent to settle at $1,679.70 an ounce at 1:41 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Bullion advanced 6.7 per cent last quarter. Silver futures for May delivery increased 1.9 per cent to $33.098 an ounce on the Comex, the biggest gain for a most- active contract since March 23. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum futures for July delivery climbed 0.7 per cent to $1,654.90 an ounce. In the first quarter, the metal gained 17 per cent, the most in three years. Palladium futures for June delivery advanced 0.7 percent to $658.80 an ounce on the Nymex.
