* Gold ticks higher near record high; PGMs firm
* Coming Up: Personal Income Aug; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold ticked up on Friday,
hovering within sight of a lifetime high, but a steadier euro
could curb gains after improving U.S. and China data suggested
growing global economic strength.
China's manufacturing sector gathered momentum in
September, handily beating market forecasts and providing
further evidence that the economy is pulling smoothly out of a
second-quarter slowdown. []
China's financial markets are closed for a week from Oct. 1
to 7 for the National Day holiday.
Silver <XAG=> held near a 30-year high, platinum <XPT=>
rose to a four-month high to track gains on TOCOM platinum
futures <0#JPL:> while industrial demand helped sister metal
palladium <XPD=> stayed near its strongest level since early
2008.
Spot gold <XAU=> added $5.15 an ounce to $1,310.40 by 0300
GMT after hitting a record around $1,315 on Thursday, racking
up its eighth consecutive quarterly gain as the U.S. Federal
Reserve appeared ready to pump more cash in the struggling
economy.
"I guess speculation will still be rife as to the state of
the U.S. economy. The need or not for a QE2 (second round of
quantitative easing) from the Fed," said Darren Heatchcote,
head of trading at Investec Australia in Sydney.
"I think we can expect (gold) to remain volatile. Its
movement has been determined by the U.S. dollar at the moment."
But Thursday's data showed new U.S. jobless claims fell
last week, regional manufacturing grew faster than expected and
consumer spending was slightly stronger than expected earlier
in the year, injecting a little caution about the prospects for
more quantitative easing from the Fed. []
"If it stays above $1,305, I think the more medium-term
target could be sort of $1,345," said Heathcote of Investec,
who pegged downside target around $1,290s.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> rose $2.1 an
ounce to $1,311.7 an ounce, having struck a record at $1,317.50
on Thursday.
The euro paused below a five-month high on the dollar on
Friday and the greenback steadied after dropping to an
eight-month low against a basket of currencies the previous
day, with the market looking ahead to U.S. and Chinese data.
[] The physical market was slow, with Hong Kong off for
a holiday, while dealers in Tokyo saw a bit of activity in
Platinum Group Metals.
Higher gold prices widened the discounts for gold bars in
Tokyo to 50 cents below the spot London price from 25 cents
last week. <GOLD/ASIA1>
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings eased to 1,304.776 tonnes
by Sept 30 from 1,305.688 tonnes on Sept 28. The holdings hit a
record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
"There's a bit buying on TOCOM platinum, that's why spot
price is increasing. But I don't see demand the industrial
sector because the price is too high anyway," said a dealer in
Tokyo.
"There's a bit of buying for palladium in Japan and also
the other parts of Asia. That demand comes from the auto and
dental industries."
Platinum and palladium are used in jewellery, autocatalysts
and also in dentistry.
In other markets, Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.9 percent
on Friday after better-than-expected U.S. economic data
provided a degree of optimism, while crude oil was little
changed near a seven-month high. [] []
Precious metals prices at 0300 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1310.40 5.15 +0.39 19.59
Spot Silver 21.82 0.12 +0.55 29.65
Spot Platinum 1664.50 13.35 +0.81 13.46
Spot Palladium 570.50 6.57 +1.17 40.69
TOCOM Gold 3528.00 9.00 +0.26 8.25
25297
TOCOM Platinum 4489.00 74.00 +1.68 2.47
11114
TOCOM Silver 58.70 0.00 +0.00 13.54
618
TOCOM Palladium 1535.00 32.00 +2.13 31.76
390
Euro/Dollar 1.3655
Dollar/Yen 83.47
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
(lewa.pardomuan@thomson reuters.com; +65 6870 3834; Reuters
Messaging: lewa.pardomuan.reuters.com@reuters.net))
