* Bargain hunters pluck gold off 5-week low
* For the technicals on gold, click []
* Coming Up: June non-farm payrolls; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds rising premiums in Tokyo)
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 across Asia, but investors were cautious
ahead 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 that
will set the tone for currencies and equities. Gold tumbled
nearly 4 percent on Thursday, the biggest one-day fall in five
months, 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 $1,207.35 per ounce by 0608 GMT,
up $8.70 from New York's notional close as the Nikkei edged up
and the euro gained. 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> added $1 to
$1,207.7 an ounce.
Purchases from retail investors pushed up premiums for gold
bars in Tokyo to $1 an ounce to the spot London prices from
zero earlier this week. That was the highest level since July
last year. <GOLD/ASIA>
"We've have seen some buying interest in gold and silver
from various sectors including the general public. Premiums
rise to $1 because of strong buying interest," said a physical
dealer in Tokyo.
Dealers in Singapore noted bargain hunting as well as a
surge in physical demand from Thailand, keeping premiums steady
at 40 to 60 U.S. cents
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 ended 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. [] []
The 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 dollar was on the back foot against the euro and
slipped against the Aussie on Friday after a big euro short
squeeze ahead of the jobs data, while the yen lost ground all
round as the squeeze spilled into Asian trade. []
Precious metals prices at 0608 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1207.35 8.70 +0.73 10.19
Spot Silver 17.89 0.14 +0.79 6.30
Spot Platinum 1509.50 8.50 +0.57 2.90
Spot Palladium 433.75 3.25 +0.75 6.97
TOCOM Gold 3427.00 -108.00 -3.06 5.15
68597
TOCOM Platinum 4298.00 -31.00 -0.72 -1.89
22010
TOCOM Silver 51.30 -1.90 -3.57 -0.77
834
TOCOM Palladium 1240.00 -19.00 -1.51 6.44
658
Euro/Dollar 1.2490
Dollar/Yen 87.99
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by)
