* Gold at record above $1,160 on safe-haven bid
* Asian stocks firmer, led by Australian resource stocks
* Oil, copper boosted by supply worries
By Lincoln Feast
SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Gold rose more than 1 percent
to a record high on Monday as concerns about accelerating
inflation and weak economic growth prompted investors to seek
relatively safer assets, while supply concerns boosted oil and
copper.
Asian stocks also rose, led by gains in Australia thanks to
higher resource stocks, although volumes were light with Japan
out on holiday.
Many investors have been reducing their positions and
cutting risk as a strong year begins to wind down and with
economic indicators still showing scant evidence of a sustained
recovery.
Highlighting the growing concerns evident in the market,
yields on U.S. 2-year Treasuries <US2YT=RR> have fallen below
0.75 percent, approaching levels seen at the height of the
financial crisis in December last year.
"It worries me that two-year yields are trading as they are
plus (short-dated) bill rates went negative and gold is bid,
bid, bid," said Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist at
Westpac.
"It makes me think there is a huge flight to quality going
on that hasn't hit FX yet...perhaps a bit of a warning sign."
The dollar, which often rises in times of increased
uncertainty and worries about global growth, gave up early
gains against a basket of currencies <.DXY>, while the
commodity-linked Australian dollar <AUD=> benefited from the
strong gold price.
Spot gold <XAU=> was trading around $1,162 an ounce, having
hit a peak around $1,163, up a third so far this year.
Helped by the safe haven bid and purchases by a number of
central banks, gold has surged since the start of November,
hitting nine record highs and gaining 11 percent in the past
three weeks.
STOCKS STALLED
The heightened sense of caution has stalled a rally in
global stocks, which have traded in a broad range since
mid-October.
After falling last week, MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific
stocks outside of Japan <.MSCIAPJ> rose 0.7 percent, taking its
gains so far this year to almost two-thirds.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
Australian shares <> rose 0.6 percent, with shares of
Drillsearch Energy Ltd <DLS.AX> jumping more than 19 percent
after the company reported a promising oil find.
Crude oil futures <CLc1> rose 1 percent to $78.24 a barrel,
supported by heightened tensions between Iran and Western
nations which raised speculation of a potential supply risk.
[]
Iran's armed forces launched large-scale air defence war
games on Sunday to show off the country's deterrence
capabilities in the face of pressure from the West over its
nuclear programme, and a cleric in the Revolutionary Guards
warned that the Islamic Republic would fire missiles at "the
heart of Tel Aviv" if attacked. [] []
"There's always a supply risk premium that can arise from
these elevated tensions in the Middle East and that is a factor
pushing up oil prices this morning," said Toby Hassall, a
commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Supply concerns also supported copper <MCU3>, which was
testing $7,000 a tonne amid strikes by workers in Chilean
mines.
(To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
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((For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click
on: <>))
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
((lincoln.feast@reuters.com; +65 6870 3832; Reuters Messaging:
lincoln.feast.reuters.com@reuters.net))
