TOKYO -- Buy orders for gold have climbed to record levels as speculators are fleeing to safety amid instability in the currency and bond markets due to uncertainty over Japanese and U.S. monetary policies.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, the world's largest market for gold futures, long positions, including options, held by speculators reached 332,163 contracts on Sept. 20, a twofold increase from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In terms of weight, the contracts totaled 1,033 tons.