The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities rose as much as 1.2 percent after the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 54.8 in April from 53.4 in March. Economists had forecast a reading of 53, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The precious metal has gained 6.1 percent this year as Europe’s intensifying debt crisis threatened global growth.

“The ISM numbers gave investors a good reason to jump back into equities,” Adam Klopfenstein, a market strategist at Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “People are favoring equities over gold.”

Gold futures for June delivery slid 0.1 percent to settle at $1,662.40 an ounce at 1:49 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices earlier reached $1,672.30, the highest since April 13.

Asian markets including Hong Kong, South Korea, China, India and Singapore are closed for public holidays. Most western European markets, including Germany, France and Spain, are closed for the May Day holiday.

Silver futures for July delivery dropped 0.3 percent to $30.93 an ounce on the Comex.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, palladium futures for June delivery slipped 0.2 percent to $681.05 an ounce, snapping a three-session rally. Platinum futures for July delivery rose less than 0.1 percent to $1,572.30 an ounce on the Nymex.

To contact the reporters on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-01/gold-may-climb-for-sixth-day-heading-for-best-run-since-august.html

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