* Gold rangebound; market awaits direction
* Spot gold may fall to $1,333 - technicals
* Coming up: US NAHB housing market index, Feb; 1500 GMT
(Updates prices; adds India inflation number in paragraph 5)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Monday, with prices hovering below $1,360 an ounce, as investors
awaited China inflation data for trading cues after the
resignation of Egypt's president following weeks of protest took
some heat out of risk aversion.
Egypt's generals asserted command over the country following
the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak at the weekend.
Having suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament
on Sunday, moves welcomed by those who saw both institutions as
perverted to Mubarak's personal ends, the armed forces council
was planning to issue orders intended to stifle further
disruption and get the country back to work.
Gold prices, which have been buoyed by the turmoil in Egypt,
may get a further boost if China's reports a high inflation
number. Economists polled by Reuters have pegged China's January
inflation rising at a 30-month high.
The China inflation data will follow an 8.23-percent annual
rise in January headline inflation in India, the world's biggest
gold consumer.
"China's inflation number is something to watch out for. If
the number is high, it may cause another move up in gold prices,
because people would use gold as hedge against inflation," said
a Singapore-based dealer.
But a stronger-than-expected rise in inflation may trigger
fears of more tightening, after China raised interest rates
twice in just over six weeks.
Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent at $1,359.20 an ounce
by 0627 GMT. U.S. gold futures was little changed at
$1,359.9.
A bullish target for spot gold of $1,388 per ounce
has been aborted as it failed to touch a new high on Friday,
making likely a further drop towards $1,333, said Wang Tao, a
Reuters market analyst.
For a weekly gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20111402091653.jpg
PHYSICAL MARKET QUIET
Physical market activity was subdued, as Chinese buyers had
yet to jump in to the market as expected.
"Gold is stuck in the range of $1,345 to $1,370," said Peter
Fung, head of dealing department at Wing Fung Precious Metals in
Hong Kong. "We are not seeing much physical interest after the
Chinese returned from the Lunar New Year holiday, and the
premiums in Shanghai are lower than before the holiday."
Fung said the lack of direction in the market contributed to
the listless trading activities.
"People don't see any trend in the short term, and have
little interest in trading."
Premiums for gold in Singapore have fallen to about $1 per
ounce over London prices, from $1.50/$1.90 last week, as demand
ebbed from before the Lunar New Year and supply tightness eased.
"As interest rates are turning more hawkish, opportunity
cost of having gold is higher now," said a Singapore-based
trader.
Spot platinum gained more than one percent to
$1,822.75, after falling to a 1-1/2 week low of $1,796.45 on
Friday.
Spot palladium rose by 0.6 percent to $816.
Platinum group metals benefited from the buoyant mood in the
stock market, after Mubarak's resignation was seen partially
reviving investors' risk appetite.
The euro teetered at a key technical level against the
dollar on Monday, with a break of that support seen likely to
deepen its decline as markets turn cautious ahead of a slew of
events this week.
Precious metals prices 0627 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1359.20 3.08 +0.23 -4.24
Spot Silver 29.90 0.05 +0.17 -3.11
Spot Platinum 1822.75 20.25 +1.12 3.13
Spot Palladium 816.00 5.00 +0.62 2.06
TOCOM Gold 3647.00 18.00 +0.50 -2.20 42638
TOCOM Platinum 4926.00 -21.00 -0.42 4.90 14513
TOCOM Silver 80.00 0.10 +0.13 -1.23 835
TOCOM Palladium 2195.00 -5.00 -0.23 4.67 471
COMEX GOLD APR1 1359.90 -0.50 -0.04 -4.33 9879
COMEX SILVER MAR1 29.93 -0.07 -0.22 -3.26 2868
Euro/Dollar 1.3546
Dollar/Yen 83.18
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Ed Lane)
Reuters
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