Gold hits another record, Asia shares rise

By Susan Fenton

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Gold hit a fresh record high on Monday as investors hedged against a weak dollar, while Asian shares gained ground after upbeat reports from U.S. retailers underpinned confidence the global economy is recovering.

European stock futures were set to open higher, according to financial bookmakers, while U.S. equity futures were up 0.7 percent.

Gold surged to a record above $1,128 an ounce, pulling up platinum to its highest level since September 2008, as the dollar dipped 0.4 percent against a basket of currencies and on strong demand for gold futures.

The dollar drifted as currency markets focused on U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to China that began on Sunday and what he might say about the dollar and the Chinese yuan , which the U.S. and many other Western nations believe to be undervalued.

Gold, which has gained 10 percent in the past 2 and ½ weeks, was also boosted by comments from investment fund BlackRock, a manager and adviser to the U.S. Federal Reserve, that gold would rise further and central banks would be net buyers of gold this year.

"The most recent break-out in the gold price in U.S. dollars has caused most gold prices to start trending higher at the same time," Evy Hambro, who runs two BlackRock commodities funds that are among the world's largest commodities funds, said in Sydney.

He added that investors were now looking for gold to rise in other currencies as well as U.S. dollars.

"When you start to see the price rising in a range of different currencies, it is a clear sign of a very strong market to come," Hambro said.