* Bargain hunters pluck gold from 5-week low
* For the technicals on gold, click []
* Coming Up: June non-farm payrolls; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 2 (Reuters) - Gold bounced from a 5-week
low on Friday as weaker prices ignited buying by bargain
hunters and jewellers, but investors were cautious ahead of the
release of a U.S. employment report.
Investors shrugged off a small drop in ETF holdings,
turning their attention to the June non-farm payrolls data
which will set the tone for currencies and equities. Gold
tumbled nearly 4 percent on Thursday as funds sold bullion to
cover losses in other markets. []
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a low of $1,196.00, its weakest since
May 25, before rebounding to $1,206.45 per ounce by 0312 GMT,
up $7.80 from New York's notional close as the Nikkei edged up
and the euro steadied. Gold struck a record $1,264 last week.
For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20100207085843.jpg
"Unless we start to see the ETF holdings reduced markedly,
then I would expect we'll have a bit of a rebound in the next
few days," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec
Australia in Sydney.
"If it starts to show significant falls, then it shows
investment demand is actually starting to wane and we might be
a little bit more concerned about further weakness, but at the
moment I would say No."
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P> said its holdings dropped to 1,319.219
tonnes by July 1 from a record of 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29
-- the first decline since early June. []
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> steadied at
$1,207.3 an ounce.
Dealers in Singapore noted bargain hunting as well as a
surge in physical demand from Thailand, keeping premiums for
gold bars steady at 40 to 60 U.S. cents an ounce to the spot
London prices. <GOLD/ASIA>
Light buying from jewellers stirred up physical trading in
Hong Kong, where premiums were also steady at 50 cents, but
there was a lack of interest from investors.
"I think gold will fall if the job data is bad. It will be
be the same story," said a dealer in Hong Kong, referring to a
possible decline in bullion as investors cover losses.
"I think people are reluctant to commit too much at the
high level. We really have to see if there will be more
physical buyers and jewellers at these levels."
Japan's Nikkei clawed higher ahead of the U.S. job data but
worries about a double-dip recession lingered as investors
moved away from the euro-zone debt concerns to U.S. data
pointing to a slowing recovery. [] []
Labor department releases its June employment report at
1230 GMT. Economists are forecasting a loss of 110,000 jobs in
June compared with an increase of 431,00 jobs in May. [].
The euro held near five-week highs against the U.S. dollar
on Friday after rallying three whole cents as speculators were
squeezed out of short positions ahead of the job data. []
Precious metals prices at 0312 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1206.45 7.80 +0.65 10.11
Spot Silver 17.89 0.14 +0.79 6.30
Spot Platinum 1507.75 6.75 +0.45 2.78
Spot Palladium 435.25 4.75 +1.10 7.34
TOCOM Gold 3425.00 -110.00 -3.11 5.09
54636
TOCOM Platinum 4305.00 -24.00 -0.55 -1.73
17250
TOCOM Silver 51.20 -2.00 -3.76 -0.97
602
TOCOM Palladium 1246.00 -13.00 -1.03 6.95
583
Euro/Dollar 1.2512
Dollar/Yen 88.05
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by)
