Gold edges towards 12-week high on safe-haven demand

Gold edged up for a third session out of four to hover near a 12-week peak on Wednesday, bolstered by safe-haven demand as tumbling oil prices and worries over global economic growth hit equities.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold had ticked up 0.1 percent to $1,231.80 an ounce by 0045 GMT.

Gold closed Tuesday down 0.2 percent after marking a 12-week high of $1,243.60 earlier in the session as the dollar returned to near its session-highs and as crude oil prices pared steep losses.

Oil tumbled 5 percent to near six-year lows before recovering ground on Tuesday, and Brent briefly traded at par to U.S. crude for the first time in three months as some traders moved to take advantage of ample storage space in the United States.

Weaker oil prices tend to hurt gold as they reduce the need for the precious metal as a hedge against oil-led inflation. But as equity markets have been hit by the slump in oil prices and concerns have risen over its economic impact, flight-to-safety demand has bolstered the metal.

Equities were also hurt on Tuesday after the World Bank lowered its global growth forecast for 2015 and next year due to disappointing economic prospects in the euro zone, Japan and some major emerging economies.

The global development lender predicted the global economy would grow 3 percent this year, below a forecast of 3.4 percent made in June, according to its twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report.

Other safe-haven assets such as the yen were also well-bid. The dollar neared one-month lows against the Japanese yen early on Wednesday as U.S. yields continued to shrink.

Bullion traders were closely watching moves in the currency markets as a stronger dollar would dull the metal's appeal as a hedge.

MARKET NEWS

The euro was pinned near nine-year lows on Wednesday as investors wagered the European Central Bank was just a week away from launching a new stimulus campaign, while concerns about the global economy kept Asian equities subdued.