Gold hit another all-time high Wednesday, rising above $1,200 an ounce, buoyed by weakness

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in the dollar and renewed investor appetite for commodities and other riskier assets.

Asian stocks advanced as investors chased higher returns, confident that Dubai’s debt woes, which sparked a selloff last week, would be contained.

Spot gold rose as high as $1,210.15 in the Asian market after pushing past the $1,200 level for the first time in New York, amid a broad rally in commodities on expectations of rising global demand, fueled by a strong U.S. home sales report and analysts’ positive forecasts for China’s growth this quarter.

Bullion later extended its gains in Europe, hitting a fresh record high of $1,216.75. Copper touched its highest level in 15 months.

The dollar was again on the defensive while the euro and high-yielding currencies extended gains as risk appetite showed little sign of waning, which it usually does toward the end of the year.

The dollar was flat against a basket of major currencies, while the yen came off earlier lows amid disappointment that emergency steps announced by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday, primarily short-term funding for banks, did not go further to tackle deflation or help alleviate upward pressure on the yen.

The dollar was trading at ¥86.99, down from a Tuesday low of ¥87.54. The Japanese unit has gained more than 4 percent this year, raising concerns that exports are growing less competitive, threatening to tip Japan back into recession.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan was 1.1 percent higher.

Hong Kong shares rose 0.8 percent and South Korean stocks 1.4 percent. Indian stocks were slightly weaker while Singapore’s benchmark stock index rose 0.9 percent, building on a gain of 1.4 percent on Tuesday. Indonesia rose 0.8 percent to its highest level in a week and Malaysia inched up 0.4 percent.

‘‘With investors more assured that fears about Dubai are continuing to ease, coupled with alleviating economic concerns on the back of solid U.S. data, markets are making a more meaningful rebound today,’’ said Choi Seong-lak, an analyst at SK Securities in Seoul.

Thai stocks bucked the trend, losing 2.3 percent after a court allowed only 11 out of 76 suspended projects at the Map Ta Phut site, the world’s eighth-biggest petrochemicals hub, to resume after being halted by environmental concerns.

Losses in Bangkok were led by falls of more than 5 percent in the oil and gas major PTT and the top conglomerate Siam Cement. Both have big operations at the site.

Japan’s Nikkei share index rose 0.4 percent to a two-week closing high but lagged much of Asia on disappointment over the Bank of Japan’s actions and the country’s shaky economic outlook, while Japanese government bond futures fell.

The commodities rally lifted shares in Australia, where the copper miner Kagara rallied 7 percent and the gold miner Newcrest Mining jumped 5 percent.

The benchmark index climbed 0.9 percent.

Shares of Asian carmakers also gained after data showed some U.S. car sales rose in November, another sign that the world’s biggest economy is recovering.

Japan’s NissanMotor, which reported a 31 percent jump in U.S. sales last month, saw its share price rise 2.5 percent.

Shares of Toyota Motor gained 1.1 percent.

Oil prices fell one percent—to $77.63 a barrel — after data showed U.S. crude stocks rose much more than expected last week.