* Gold holds near NY levels in thin trade
* Thai jewellers buy, India inquires
* Coming up - U.S. Initial jobless claims weekly, 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, activity in physical sector)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 1 (Reuters) - Gold gave up early gains on
Thursday but held steady near its highest level in two weeks
due to bargain hunting before a long Easter holiday break.
Thai jewellers were active but physical dealers noted light
selling by Indonesian consumers. India, the world's largest
consumer, made some inquiries as the wedding season was about
to start soon.
Gold hit an intraday high of $1,115.10 an ounce, not far
from Wednesday's near two-week peak of $1,117.90, before easing
as the euro shed some gains and also after the release of
China's PMI data ignited some concerns about a monetary
tightening. []
By 0544 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,113.00 an ounce,
barely moved from New York's notional close on Wednesday.
Technically, gold was below the 100-day moving average but
hovered above the closely watched 50-day moving average.
"Volume is light so it's easy to push up the market. The
dollar seems to be a bit weaker because the Greek problem has
eased a bit," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold
Dealer in Hong Kong, referring to the Greek debt crisis.
"I think we can say there will be some resistance ahead at
$1,125 to $1,130," he added.
Bullion ended the first quarter more than a percent higher
on buying driven by volatile currencies, firm stock markets and
oil as well as euro zone debt but it has struggled to sustain
gains since hitting a record above $1,200 an ounce last
December.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> fell $1.1 an
ounce to $1,113.2 ounce. It ended 1 percent higher on Wednesday
as the dollar slipped against the euro after an ADP report
showed a surprising decline in U.S. private sector jobs in
March.
Bullion markets in Singapore, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong
and Australia will be closed for Good Friday but Japan is open
and investors will be waiting for U.S. non-farm payrolls that
could set the tone for currencies.
Analysts are expecting the government payrolls report on
Friday to show the economy added 190,000 jobs in March, albeit
aided by temporary government hiring for the 2010 U.S. Census.
The euro <EUR=> erased an earlier spike to $1.3562 and
traded flat at $1.3503, remaining vulnerable to sovereign risks
festering in the background. []
"There's still physical demand from India ahead of their
wedding season but there doesn't seem to be a rush. In general,
it's quiet before the Easter holiday," said a dealer in
Singapore, who offered gold bars at premiums of 70 cents,
steady from last week.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,129.823 tonnes
as of April 1, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
Silver <XAG=> and platinum <XPT=> held near Wednesday's
high, while palladium <XPD=> was within sight of its strongest
level in two years.
Palladium and platinum prices began to rally after ETF
Securities Ltd launched the first U.S. PGM exchange traded
funds in early January, which now have about 900,000 ounces of
the combined metals.
Japan's Nikkei average hit an 18-month high on Thursday,
with resource shares such as Mitsui & Co Ltd <8031.T> gaining
on a rise in commodity prices. [] Precious metals prices at
0544 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1113.00 0.20 +0.02 1.58
Spot Silver 17.51 0.05 +0.29 4.04
Spot Platinum 1644.00 2.50 +0.15 12.07
Spot Palladium 477.25 -0.25 -0.05 17.69
TOCOM Gold 3355.00 25.00 +0.75 2.95
42074
TOCOM Platinum 4928.00 33.00 +0.67 12.49
17760
TOCOM Silver 53.10 0.50 +0.95 2.71
809
TOCOM Palladium 1434.00 19.00 +1.34 23.09
627
Euro/Dollar 1.3515
Dollar/Yen 93.47
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
