LONDON: Gold rose by about 1 percent on Tuesday as European shares fell and inflows into bullion funds continued, boosting prices.

Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), rose more than 19 tons to 752.29 tons on Monday, the highest since March 2015.

The fund’s inflows since the beginning of the year have already surpassed outflows for the whole of 2015. Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,220.21 an ounce by 1453 GMT. Prices had fallen 1.6 percent on Monday, when the dollar and equities rallied. “If there is another big sell-off in equity markets, then levels around $1,260 are very achievable because you’d see defensive investors coming forward,” said ETF Securities analyst Martin Arnold.

Among other precious metals, silver rose by 0.6 percent to $15.25 an ounce after hitting a two-week low of $14.90 on Monday. Platinum was up 1 percent at $936.10, while palladium firmed 1.1 percent to $499.50.

Bullion was boosted by European and US shares turning negative, dropping from the previous session’s two-week high on disappointing earnings updates and lower oil prices.