Gold advances as Soros buys Barrick, Eton Park adds SPDR stake

[SINGAPORE] Gold climbed for a third day as billionaire George Soros and Eton Park Capital Management joined the slew of investors piling into bullion.

Metal for immediate delivery added 0.4 per cent to US$1,279.70 an ounce by 9:53 am in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

Prices have rallied 21 per cent in 2016 as the Federal Reserve scaled back expectations for interest-rate increases and as borrowing costs turned negative in Europe and Japan.

Money managers including Paul Singer and Stan Druckenmiller are bullish and leading bears have been compelled to raise their forecasts.

Soros Fund Management LLC bought a US$264 million stake in the world's biggest producer Barrick Gold Corp in the first quarter, while Eton Park, the hedge fund firm founded by Eric Mindich, spent US$422 million buying shares in the SPDR Gold Trust.

Holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by bullion have risen 62 metric tons this month to the highest since December 2013.

Set against these bets, hedge-fund manager John Paulson retreated from gold for a second straight quarter, even as prices of the metal posted the biggest gain in three decades.

BLOOMBERG