* Gold bounces from 2-week low on 6 pct rise in oil
* Euro edges up against dollar, helps gold
* Nikkei surges more than 5 pct
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded from a two-week
low on Monday after oil recovered from last week's near-record
decline, but recession worries could limit investors' appetite
for risky assets and keep bullion trade in a tight range.
Buying from Japanese speculators resurfaced after gold had
posted its biggest weekly fall in seven weeks as a dismal U.S.
jobs report on Friday sparked selling across the board. Other
precious metals also tracked gold higher.
Gold <XAU=> was at $767.50 an ounce, up $12.90 from New
York's notional close on Friday, when it fell as low as
$740.40. The metal was struggling to sustain gains after a
rally to a six-week high of $830.10 in October was met by heavy
selling.
"Gold is odd. It doesn't seem to be benefiting from any
safe-haven flows at the moment," said David Moore, commodities
strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
"I suspect that at some point, we might see gold recover a
little bit because there's a potential for some diversification
back into gold."
Oil jumped 6 percent to more than $43 a barrel, clawing
back a share of the near-record decline last week, with the
help of strong equities and Saudi Arabia's move to cut January
oil supplies a bit more deeply for a few Asian refiners. []
Oil shed a quarter of its value last week, the sharpest
weekly fall since January 1991.
Worries about rising inflation helped propel gold to a
record high of $1,030.80 in March but trading has since been
volatile. Gold hit a 13-month low of $680.80 in October, when a
sell-off in equities forced investors to cash in to cover
losses.
Recent strength in the yen against the U.S. dollar spurred
buying from Japanese investors but gold prices are still at the
mercy of movements in stock markets and oil, said Yukuji
Sonoda, precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in
Tokyo.
"The gold price will be moving in a small range of $750 to
$800. As long as the oil price is not so strong and stock
prices also fluctuate, gold will be moving in the same range,"
said Sonoda.
But the volatility does not seem to have scared off retail
investors, with the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, saying it held757.89 tonnes of
gold as of Dec. 5, down just 0.23 tonnes fromNov. 26.
[]
The euro edged up to $1.2793 <EUR=> after falling in New
York on Friday, when data showed U.S. employers cut payrolls by
a much larger-than-expected 533,000 in November, the sharpest
monthly loss since 1974. Markets were expecting 340,000 job
losses, Reuters data showed. []
The Nikkei <> climbed 5.2 percent on Monday to its
highest close in a week on hopes for economic stimulus packages
being enacted around the world. []
Platinum <XPT=>, used in car catalytic converters, was
trading at $809.00 an ounce, up $21.00 on speculative buying in
Japan, but uncertainties prevailed as the White House and
congressional negotiators sought to remove differences over an
emergency rescue for the auto industry.
"Many people think the problems faced by General Motors
will be settled. The reality is quite different. Even if the
U.S. government supplies some money, it's not going to solve
any problems," said Sonoda of Daiichi Commodities.
New York gold futures <GCZ9> added $16.8 an ounce to $769.0
in electronic trade.
Speculative gold players in the non-commercial category
boosted their net long positions to 84,369 long on gold futures
traded on COMEX at Dec. 2, up from 81,872 net long lots at Nov.
25, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed.
Precious metals prices at 0707 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 767.50 12.90 +1.71 -7.83
Spot Silver 9.69 0.24 +2.54 -34.39
Spot Platinum 809.00 21.00 +2.66 -46.78
Spot Palladium 165.50 6.00 +3.76 -55.03
TOCOM Gold 2288.00 7.00 +0.31 -25.23
36067
TOCOM Platinum 2441.00 78.00 +3.30 -54.28
12037
TOCOM Silver 287.00 5.30 +1.88 -46.95
295
TOCOM Palladium 520.00 3.00 +0.58 -61.51
232
Euro/Dollar 1.2820
Dollar/Yen 92.87
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
