Gold tops $1,700 an ounce on ECB's bond-buying plan

Gold topped $1,700 an ounce for the first time since March as speculation that the European Central Bank will announce unlimited purchases of government bonds to defuse the region's debt crisis boosted the euro.

The gold rose one per cent to $1,709.90 an ounce, matching a level last seen on March 13. Silver also gained 2.3 per cent to $32.99 an ounce, the highest since April 3.     

The euro traded near a two-month high against the dollar after central bank officials said that ECB President Mario Draghi will announce the purchases at a policy-setting meeting today.

The bond-buying program will be sterilized to assuage concerns about printing money, according to the  officials. Gold tends to trade inversely to the US currency.

Assets in exchange-traded products expanded to a record 2,470.7 metric tonnes. Bullion is up 9.3 per  cent this year.

The ECB has been at the forefront of fighting the crisis, which has so far pushed five countries into  bailouts and driven the 17-nation euro economy to the brink of recession.