* Gold rises for second day, ETF flows stabilise
* China, Egypt in focus, euro recovers
* Coming Up: U.S. ICSC chain stores yy weekly; 1245 GMT
(Recasts, adds comment, refreshes prices; changes dateline,
prvs SINGAPORE)
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Gold edged up for a second day on
Tuesday, shrugging off a rise in China's benchmark interest
rates, while equities fell, the euro picked up and flows of
metal out of exchange-traded funds stabilised.
The gold price came under intense pressure last week after
more signs emerged that global growth continues to improve and
that the euro zone debt crisis has not worsened, which eroded
some investor appetite for the metal.
Spot gold <XAU=> was up 0.2 percent at $1,352.80 an ounce by
1055 GMT, set for a second consecutive weekly rise but still 5
percent below record highs struck in mid-December.
U.S. April gold futures <GCJ1> were up 0.4 percent at
$1,353.60 an ounce.
China's central bank raised interest rates by a quarter
point to 6.06 percent, its second increase in just over a month
as it steps up its fight against stubbornly high inflation.
[]
"Chinese investment or jewellery buying has been pretty
strong over the last quarter, and I wouldn't have thought that
it is going to slow down particularly," said Societe Generale
analyst David Wilson.
"Gold is getting some support from nervousness about
northern Africa and the Middle East, and obviously still
bubbling in the background are concerns about Europe," he said.
EGYPT UNREST CONTINUES
Political turmoil in Egypt, where protesters called for a
fresh push to eject President Hosni Mubarak from power, has
unsettled the investment community and pushed the oil price
above $100 a barrel. [] []
"While the euro debt crisis is not in people's minds, the
situation in the Middle East has become more important, so that
will prevent investors from making any big sales," said LBBW
commodities strategist Thorsten Proettel.
"The SPDR holdings have been nearly unchanged, and
profit-taking from investors has perhaps stopped for the
moment," he said.
Since protesters took to the streets of Cairo and other
major Egyptian cities in late January, the gold price has risen
by over 3 percent, although much of the potential for safe-haven
buying has been undermined by a rally in riskier assets, with
the S&P 500 <.SPX> up 2 percent and the copper price <CMCU3> up
over 6 percent in the same period of time.
Holdings of metal in the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> have risen by
1 tonne in the past week to 1,228.864 tonnes.
In January the fund registered its largestly monthly outflow
of metal since April 2008 as investors favoured equities and
industrial commodities over perceived safe-havens such as gold.
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. European equities fell from Monday's 29-month closing
highs. [] []
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 fuelled the
outperformance of shares in developed markets.
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. []
Platinum and palladium rallied, although gains were tempered
by China's interest rate decision.
Both metals have seen inflows into some of the major
exchange-traded funds in the past week, such as ETF Securities'
U.S.-listed products, indicating investor appetite.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was last up 0.2 percent at $1,841.99 an
ounce, nearing its highest level since July 2008, while
palladium <XPD=> closed in on fresh ten-year highs and was last
up 0.3 percent at $817.72 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; Editing
by Jane Baird)
