* Gold rebounds on short covering, euro inches up
* Heading for its sixth consecutive quarter of gains
* Coming Up: U.S. ADP national employment for March, 1215
GMT
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on short
covering on Wednesday after the euro steadied against the U.S.
dollar, but the metal remains vulnerable to selling pressure
after previous failed attempts to test new highs.
While heading for its sixth consecutive quarter of gains,
gold was still about 10 percent below a record high around
$1,226 struck in December and hovered below the 100-day moving
average.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,105.90 an ounce by 0516 GMT, up
$3.40 from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it
slipped to track a falling euro. Gold has been in a $60 trading
range in the past six weeks, indicating indecision among
investors.
Immediate resistance was seen at recent highs above $1,110.
"Overall, I don't think that gold is necessarily poised for
another round higher," said David Moore, commodity strategist
at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
"People are reluctant to take it higher from the general
level in the absence of some further significant change in
fundamentals or other views. Gold was supported a bit when
concerns about Greece were at the most intense."
Gold had been supported by safe-haven buying related to
Greece's debt problems but profit taking as well as frequent
rebounds in the dollar have erased some of the gains.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> added $1.20 to
$1,106.90 ounce after falling on Tuesday due to month-end
position squaring and contract rollover.
The euro <EUR=> was steady around $1.34 but looked
increasingly vulnerable as a bout of short-covering looked to
run its course and fiscal worries resurfaced. []
Trading was slow ahead of the release of China's purchasing
managers' index for March on Thursday due to persistent worries
about monetary tightening that could cut the country's demand
for industrial metals and affect sentiment in commodities.
"China's PMI figures will be out tomorrow and people agree
the numbers will be strong. It may give more reasons for the
regulators to come in and tighten up earlier," said a dealer in
Singapore.
While China's robust growth has become a major driver of
the global economy, fears of further policy tightening by
Beijing to head off inflationary overheating have rattled
financial markets in recent months.
For a preview on China's PMI for March, see []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,129.823 tonnes
as of March 30, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
Japan's Nikkei average briefly hit an 18-month high on
Wednesday, the final day of the quarter and the Japanese
business year, with further gains expected in the new quarter
as a global economic recovery picks up strength. []
Precious metals prices at 0516 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1105.90 3.40 +0.31 0.93
Spot Silver 17.32 0.07 +0.41 2.91
Spot Platinum 1633.25 16.75 +1.04 11.33
Spot Palladium 473.25 6.75 +1.45 16.71
TOCOM Gold 3330.00 10.00 +0.30 2.18
44461
TOCOM Platinum 4891.00 74.00 +1.54 11.64
26363
TOCOM Silver 52.50 0.20 +0.38 1.55
673
TOCOM Palladium 1419.00 25.00 +1.79 21.80
615
Euro/Dollar 1.3409
Dollar/Yen 93.34
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
