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By Bloomberg

Gold extended an advance from a nine- month low as a retreat in the dollar and global equities boosted demand for an alternative investment. Silver, platinum and palladium climbed.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.7 percent to $1,222.47 an ounce, and traded at $1,219.31 at 12:20 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal dropped to $1,204.57 on Sept. 30, the lowest level since Jan. 2 and within 0.5 percent of erasing this year's gains.

Data yesterday showed euro-area factories expanded at the slowest pace in 14 months in September and U.S. manufacturing cooled. A measure of factory output in China was unchanged in September from August. Asian stocks fell a fifth day today after U.S. equities tumbled, with the MSCI All-Country World Index dropping yesterday to a five-month low. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index retreated from a four-year high today.

"Gold is showing signs of resilience with $1,200 as a clear support, and is largely driven by the dollar at this juncture," said Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. "The weakness seen in equities may also have supported gold. We continue to stay in data-watching stance and any strengthening of the greenback will very likely inject further downside risk for gold."

Gold for December delivery climbed 0.4 percent to $1,219.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York, after rising 0.3 percent yesterday. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold- backed exchange-traded product, contracted yesterday to 768.66 metric tons, the least since December 2008.

Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.7 percent to $17.3004 an ounce, extending yesterday's 1.2 percent advance. Platinum increased 0.6 percent to $1,291.38 an ounce after slumping yesterday to $1,263.38, the lowest level since October 2009. Palladium gained 1 percent to $786 an ounce.