Gold was little changed in New York after climbing to a record on demand for an alternative to the U.S. dollar.

Gold earlier today reached an all-time high of $1,498.90 an ounce following Standard & Poor’s revision yesterday of its long-term rating of U.S. debt, to negative from stable. The precious metal has gained 31 percent in the past year, partly on Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis.

“There certainly has always been that lingering concern over U.S. debt and the S&P people are finally identifying the threat,” said Stephen Platt, an analyst at Archer Financial in Chicago. “The world is awash in liquidity. Gold’s slow, grinding action upward shows the deterioration in the dollar, excess liquidity and deficit problems are still in force.”

Gold futures for June delivery rose 50 cents to $1,493.40 an ounce at 9:45 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Bullion for immediate delivery fell $2.85 cents to $1,492.45 in London, after rising to a record $1,498.07.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gold-rises-to-record-1-498-90-an-ounce-as-weakening-dollar-stokes-demand.html