By Frank Tang and Clara Denina
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose to its highest in nearly four months on Monday, adding to last week's gains as investors grew more anxious about the pace of the U.S. economic recovery and China's growth.
Data from China showing home prices there eased for the first time in 14 months in January, fueling fresh concerns over the health of the world's biggest economies following lackluster U.S. manufacturing and employment data.
Bullion received a boost after Ukraine appealed for urgent international help to stop the economy "heading into the abyss" after the fall of Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich cast doubt on a bailout deal with Moscow.
The precious metal is often seen as a safe haven in times of political and economic turmoil.
"The situation in Ukraine and crude oil's gains are helping gold's rally," said Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer at Chicago commodities brokerage Alliance Financial LLC.
"But I don't see massive amounts of buying other than some Asian demand last week," McGhee said. "I think the market is going to correct sooner or later."
Spot gold rose 1 percent to $1,336.74 an ounce by 2:08 p.m. EST (1908 GMT), having earlier hit $1,338.60, its highest since October 31.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled up $14.40 an ounce at $1,338. Trading volume was about 30 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Investment sentiment improved after holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Trust increased 0.3 percent on Friday from Thursday.
Bullion reversed its recent strong inverse link with equities, which had been pressured by economic uncertainties. On Monday, U.S. equities measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1 percent to an intraday record high.
Among other metals, silver also hit its highest since October 31 at $22.16 an ounce earlier. It was last up 0.9 percent at $22.01 an ounce. Platinum gained 1 percent to $1,434.80 an ounce, and palladium rose 0.2 percent to $739.75 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; Editing by William Hardy and Lisa Von Ahn)
