Gold was set to climb for a fifth day in New York as a weaker dollar increased the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment.

The dollar fell versus the euro before Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker visits Greece tomorrow to discuss the country’s request for an extension to its fiscal adjustment program. Lonmin Plc said 33 percent of workers at the Marikana complex in South Africa, the biggest platinum producing country, returned to work today after clashes with police last week led to strikers’ deaths and boosted platinum prices.

“It is the slightly firmer euro against the dollar that is supporting” gold, Peter Fertig, the owner of Quantitative Commodity Research Ltd. in Hainburg, Germany, said today by phone. “Gold has also been profiting on speculation that there may be more monetary easing” from central banks, he said.

Gold for December delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1,628.80 an ounce by 8:05 a.m. on the Comex in New York. It reached $1,630.40 today, the highest since July 31. Immediate-delivery bullion was 0.3 percent higher at $1,625.23 in London.

Holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded products fell 1 metric ton yesterday from a record to 2,432.3 tons, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Federal Reserve is due to publish tomorrow minutes of its two-day meeting that ended on Aug. 1. The central bank pledged then to ease policy further if necessary. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may talk about monetary options at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of the month.

Platinum for October delivery reached a nine-week high of $1,498.60 an ounce yesterday in New York after police shot dead 34 striking workers and injured 78 others at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mining complex on Aug. 16. The metal was down 0.5 percent at $1,490.30 today.

Palladium for September delivery gained as much as 0.8 percent to $612.60 an ounce, the highest since June 21, and was last down 0.3 percent at $605.65. Silver for December delivery rose as much as 1.2 percent to a nine-week high of $29.025 an ounce, and was last at $28.96.

To contact the reporter for this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at [email protected]

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-21/gold-set-to-gain-fifth-day-as-weaker-dollar-spurs-demand.html