Gold is headed for the biggest monthly advance in four years as a darkening global outlook spurs demand for haven assets.

Bullion for immediate delivery added as much as 0.8 per cent to $1,233.22 an ounce and traded at $1,231.31 at 4:39 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. It’s up 10 per cent in February, set for the biggest gain since January 2012.

Gold's 16 per cent rally this year has made it 2016's best- performing major asset as turmoil across global equity and currency markets spurred speculation that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on rates. As bullion advanced and analysts boosted price targets, holdings in exchange-traded funds have risen to the highest level in almost 17 months. Speculators have also raised their net-long position in gold to the highest in a year.

“The ETF inflows and safe-haven inflows are holding gold prices quite strongly,” Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director of Mumbai-based Commtrendz Risk Management Services Ltd., said by phone. “Also looking at the speculators report, most of them have increased their stance on the long side of the market. All this reinforces that at this point in time, it’s still being bought as a safe haven.”

Bloomberg