(Quote)Gold May Climb as European Central Banks Slow Sales of Bullion

金一招

Gold may rise for a second week on speculation that European central banks will reduce sales.

Eighteen of 27 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News from Sydney to Chicago on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 advised buying gold, which rose 2.1 percent last week to $595.40 an ounce in New York. Six people said to sell, and three were neutral.

European banks face a deadline of tomorrow to reach their annual gold sales limit of 500 tons, and had shed 380 tons of this year's allotment as of Sept. 19, according to the producer- funded World Gold Council in London. In the week ended Sept. 15, bank sales were the most since June, and gold prices fell the most in two months.

``The market should breathe a sigh of relief with the concerns of any lumpy physical gold sales gone for the time being,'' said Mark Pervan, head of research at Daiwa Securities in Melbourne.