Gold climbs to 12-week high

SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (Reuters): Gold extended gains on Tuesday to climb to its highest since October, boosted by safe-haven demand triggered by a continued slump in oil prices and weakness in some equities markets.
Asian stocks were mostly on the defensive on Tuesday as the continuing slide in crude oil prices turned investors cautious towards risk assets. Brent crude and U.S. WTI both fell to their lowest in almost six years.
Weaker oil prices tend to hurt gold as they reduce the need for the precious metal as a hedge against oil-led inflation.
But as equity markets have been hit by the slump in oil prices and concerns have risen over its economic impact, flight-to-safety demand has bolstered the metal.