NEW YORK (Bloomberg) Gold futures rose to a record settlement of $1,416.10 an ounce on concern the US will pump more cash into the economy and Europe’s debt woes will spread, boosting the appeal of the metal as an alternative currency.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may boost Treasury purchases. European officials were split on containing the sovereign-debt crisis. Gold priced in euros and UK pounds rose to records, and silver futures topped $30 an ounce, extending a rally to a 30-year high.

“Further currency debasement is the new norm,” said Matthew Zeman, a metal trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “As long as that stands, investors are going to buy metals as a hedge against paper money. Gold has clear sailing to go much further from here.”

Gold futures for February delivery closed up $9.90, or 0.7 percent, at 2.14pm on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price reached $1,422.40, $1.90 away from the intraday record of $1,424.30 on November 9. The metal has gained 29 percent this year.

Unemployment may take five years to fall to a normal level, and Fed buying of Treasury securities beyond the $600 billion announced last month is possible, Bernanke said in an interview broadcast yesterday by CBS Corp.’s “60 Minutes” programme.

Gold is poised for a tenth annual gain after governments spent trillions of dollars and kept interest rates low to bolster economies. Dennis Gartman, an economist and the editor of the Suffolk, Virginia-based Gartman Letter, has recommended owning gold in foreign currencies to limit exposure to a rally by the dollar. The greenback rose as much as 1.3 percent yesterday against the euro.

“Owning gold in this fashion relieves us of exposure to the dollar,” Gartman said. “It takes gold away from being a bet against the dollar and to being a bet for gold as a reservable currency.”

Gold’s gains have been capped by demand for the dollar as a haven from Europe’s escalating debt, Zeman of LaSalle said. He has forecast gold will rise to $1,500 by the end of the year.

“Without the eurozone troubles in the background, we’d see the dollar much weaker,” he said.