Gold heads for biggest weekly gain since late 2011

Reuters (26/4) - SINGAPORE - Gold rose to its highest in more than a week on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly gain since October 2011, after a surge in physical demand in Asia helped pluck the metal from a 2-year trough. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold added $4.06 an ounce to $1,471.05 by 0025 GMT after posting its biggest daily rise since June last year on Thursday. Gold plunged to around $1,321 on April 16, the lowest in more than two years, in a sell-off that surprised ardent gold investors and bulls. * U.S. gold futures for June delivery stood at $1,471.00 an ounce, up $9.00. * SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.25 percent to 1,090.27 tonnes on Thursday from 1,092.98 tonnes on Wednesday. The current holdings are at their multi-year lows. * Turkey, one of the world's biggest gold buyers, has imported more of the precious metal in April than in any month since last July following a surge in domestic demand after gold prices hit a two-year low last week. * Premiums for gold bars soared to multi-year highs in Asia after a spate of physical buying ran down supplies, with dealers in top consumer India expecting a surge in imports this month/ * Russia and Turkey raised their gold reserves in March, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, increasing their holdings ahead of a spectacular plunge in prices this month. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/26/markets-precious-idUSL3N0DD0Q320130426