* Gold bounces on weaker dollar, premiums firm
* For the technical on gold, click []
* Coming Up: U.S. Initial jobless claims Weekly; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds premiums)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) - Gold bounced higher on
Thursday as the U.S. dollar weakened and physical buying picked
up, but gains are seen limited after holdings in the world's
largest gold-backed ETF fell to the lowest since early June.
Premiums for gold bars edged up in Asia, but although
jewellers were happy to buy at lower levels, uncertainties in
the outlook for the U.S. economy and poor technicals weighed on
sentiment. Other precious metals tracked bullion higher.
Spot gold <XAU=> added $4.10 an ounce to $1,166.65 an ounce
by 0602 GMT after falling as low as $1,156.90 on Wednesday, its
weakest since late April. Bullion hovered below the 50-day and
100-day moving averages.
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102907090201.jpg
"There's a lot of safe-haven positioning being unwound
right now in the gold market. Potentially, it could unwind down
$1,130-$1,120 pretty quickly," said Mark Pervan, senior
commodities analyst at ANZ in Melbourne.
"A lot of the gold gains in the last six months were driven
by euro weakness, and that was really safe haven buying. The
trend doesn't look good. Potentially, it could move down
towards the low $1,100s," said Pervan, referring to levels last
seen in April.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings fell to 1,282.279 tonnes
by July 28 from 1,300.829 on July 27 -- their lowest since
early June. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on
June 29. []
Cash gold was nearly 8 percent below a lifetime high around
$1,264 struck in June, when investors poured money into bullion
on worries the euro zone debt crisis would spread. U.S. gold
futures for August delivery <GCQ0> rose $5.8 $1,166.2 an ounce.
Gold bars were offered at a $1.50 premium to the spot
London prices in Hong Kong, up from $1.20 on Monday. In
Singapore, premiums rose to $1.50 from between 80 cents and
$1.20 earlier this week, while dealers in Tokyo pushed up the
differentials to $1 from 50 cents. <GOLD/ASIA1>
"The premiums have gone up after prices dipped to the
$1,160 mark. There are strong inquiries in the physical market,
that's why we feel that we should push up the premiums," said a
dealer in Tokyo.
The U.S. dollar slipped towards three-month lows against a
basket of currencies on Thursday as investors cut their
positions due to fresh evidence of a patchy recovery in the
U.S. []
"We're seeing a bit of short covering, so that's why the
market has stabilised at current levels. A drop in the SPDR ETF
may suggests investors think the euro zone is getting better,"
said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"Gold looks slightly bearish, although we see a mixture of
buying from jewellers and other physical buyers."
The European Central Bank will likely wait until late 2011
before hiking interest rates, according to a Reuters poll of
over 70 economists who stayed cautious in July despite some
encouraging economic data. []
The Nikkei ended down on Thursday as U.S. stocks slipped
after weak durable goods figures and a downbeat assessment of
the economy from the Fed's Beige Book kept the benchmark S&P
500 trapped below its 200-day moving average. [] []
Precious metals prices at 0602 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1166.65 4.10 +0.35 6.48
Spot Silver 17.56 0.12 +0.69 4.34
Spot Platinum 1543.50 11.75 +0.77 5.21
Spot Palladium 470.28 4.35 +0.93 15.98
TOCOM Gold 3283.00 -15.00 -0.45 0.74
78989
TOCOM Platinum 4373.00 -14.00 -0.32 -0.18
10078
TOCOM Silver 50.10 -0.70 -1.38 -3.09
244
TOCOM Palladium 1326.00 -5.00 -0.38 13.82
247
Euro/Dollar 1.3010
Dollar/Yen 87.22
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
