* Gold extends losses, near 2-month low
* For the technical view on gold, click []
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan and Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI, July 22 (Reuters) - Gold slipped half a
percent on Thursday and could revisit its weakest level in two
months as investors sold bullion to cover equities losses ahead
of Europe's bank stress test results later this week.
Gold has fallen more than 6 percent since hitting a
lifetime high around $1,264 an ounce in late June on worries
the debt crisis in Europe would spread, but dealers expected
more losses if the tests yielded positive results on Friday.
Gold <XAU=> fell $6 to $1,185.80 by 0303 GMT, within sight
of a 2-month low at $1,175.35 hit on Tuesday. Comments from
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the U.S. economy
faced "unusually uncertain" prospects also weighed on gold, but
spurred a rally in bonds.
"If it's positive for risk assets, it would definitely dent
demand for gold. I would look at on the downside of probably
$1,175 but I don't see it dropping below that," said Ong Yi
Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"I think even if we see buying for gold today, it wouldn't
be too significant because people are really looking towards
that big event at the end of the week."
For a 24-hour spot gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102207094113.jpg
Stocks dropped across Asia on concerns about the health of
the U.S. economy while the euro regained strength on growing
optimism major listed banks could pass the EU stress tests.
[] []
The results of the European Union examination of banks are
due on Friday and are expected to show generally positive
results for Greece, Italy and Ireland and a few failures in
Portugal and Spain. []
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> fell 0.55
percent to $1,185.3 an ounce.
"Gold is likely to be bound in a tight range, before the
results of stress tests on European banks are released
tomorrow, which may give a direction on the future move of
gold," said Li Ning, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures.
Silver <XAG=> tracked gold lower, while platinum <XPT=> and
palladium <XPD=> were under pressure from weaker equities.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said holdings were unchanged at 1,308.128
tonnes. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June
29. []
U.S. crude futures stood little changed above $76 a barrel
on Thursday after falling 1.3 percent a day earlier on
Bernanke's expression of concern about the economy and an
unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. []
Slow emergence from the worldwide recession should draw
fresh money to gold and propel it to a new record high while
oil falls as low as $40 a barrel, according to an annual
industry panel discussion on Wednesday. []
Precious metals prices at 0303 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1185.80 -6.00 -0.50 8.22
Spot Silver 17.62 -0.15 -0.84 4.69
Spot Platinum 1511.00 -10.00 -0.66 3.00
Spot Palladium 446.50 -3.00 -0.67 10.11
TOCOM Gold 3309.00 -33.00 -0.99 1.53
28602
TOCOM Platinum 4235.00 -16.00 -0.38 -3.33
8268
TOCOM Silver 49.90 -0.10 -0.20 -3.48
297
TOCOM Palladium 1250.00 -9.00 -0.71 7.30
110
Euro/Dollar 1.2772
Dollar/Yen 86.49
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
