* Gold eyes $1,324/oz -technicals
* Coming Up: U.S. ICSC chain stores yy weekly; 1245 GMT
(Updates prices, adds premiums)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Gold ticked up on Tuesday after
the euro bounced from a two-week low, but a rally in global
stock markets and improved prospects of economic recovery were
likely to cap gains.
Dealers expected jewellers from China to return to the
market on Wednesday after a holiday, which could offer support
for gold after investors shifted some of their money to stock
markets and base metals, where copper struck a record.
Spot gold added $1.44 to $1,351.90 an ounce by 0713
GMT, still well below a lifetime high around $1,430 an ounce hit
in December.
"The outflow in the ETF is a bit negative for gold. We have
to see if money flowing into the stock market is temporary or
not," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in
Hong Kong. "But it seems $1,300 is a very good support."
Concerns over higher inflation in emerging markets,
indications of an economic recovery gathering pace in the United
States, modest valuations and tentative signs of stability in
the euro zone sovereign debt crisis have fueled the
outperformance of shares in developed markets.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings slipped to 1,228.864 tonnes
by Feb. 4 from 1,229.277 tonnes on Feb. 3.
A bearish target at $1,324 per ounce is unchanged for spot
gold , based on its wave pattern, according to Wang Tao, a
Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
For a weekly gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20110802090140.jpg
Asian shares struggled for traction on Tuesday, despite
gains on Wall Street, but Japan's Nikkei touched a 9-month high
as hopes of a sustained economic recovery for the rich world
encouraged investors to switch funds from emerging to developed
markets.
The euro edged off a two-week low but lacked momentum after
a drubbing the previous day when weak German industrial data
further dampened expectations for a near-term euro zone rate
hike.
U.S. gold futures for April rose $4.1 an ounce to
$1,352.3 an ounce.
In the physical market, gold's rise to the current level,
partly driven by deadly unrest in Egypt, scared off some buyers
but a strong rupee ignited purchases by main consumer India
ahead of the wedding season.
Protesters called for a push on Tuesday to eject President
Hosni Mubarak from power after the government conceded little
ground in talks with the opposition and sought to squeeze
demonstrators out of central Cairo.
"The price has gone up and they were buying at the low of
$1,320, so obviously they are waiting to see the directions from
here on," said a dealer in Singapore.
"The Thais are telling me that there is a mix of selling and
buying."
It was unclear, however, whether the buying was related to a
clash between Thai and Cambodian troops in disputed land around
a 900-year-old mountaintop temple.
Gold bars were offered at a premium of between $1.5 and
$1.9 an ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore, down from
$3 last week, its strongest since at least 2004, but demand from
India helped stir up trade.
Oil prices edged down on Tuesday as transit through the
Suez Canal remained unaffected by the political turmoil in
Egypt, while expectations of a build-up in U.S. crude
inventories also weighed.
Precious metals prices 0713 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1351.90 1.44 +0.11 -4.76
Spot Silver 29.44 0.07 +0.24 -4.60
Spot Platinum 1842.24 4.24 +0.23 4.23
Spot Palladium 821.00 5.53 +0.68 2.69
TOCOM Gold 3588.00 13.00 +0.36 -3.78 30078
TOCOM Platinum 4918.00 21.00 +0.43 4.73 9617
TOCOM Silver 77.80 0.80 +1.04 -3.95 1045
TOCOM Palladium 2180.00 20.00 +0.93 3.96 244
Euro/Dollar 1.3634
Dollar/Yen 82.22
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in
$ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Manash Goswami)
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