PRECIOUS-Gold steady after 1 pct rise on inflation, China

                                
 SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Wednesday
after rising 1 percent in the previous session on inflation
fears, technical buying after key resistance levels were broken
and a rise in Chinese interest rates. 	
	
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS	
                                
 * Spot gold added 75 cents to $1,364.34 an ounce by
0029 GMT, well below a lifetime high around $1,430 an ounce hit
in December. 	
                                
 * A rise in Chinese interest rates for the second time in
just over six weeks benefited gold's status as an inflation
hedge, even as the move initially prompted selling in the metal
along with industrial commodities. 	
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for April rose $1.1 an ounce to 
$1,365.2 an ounce.	
                                
  	
                                
 MARKET NEWS	
                                
 * Japan's Nikkei average extended its gains for a fourth day
and hit a fresh nine-month high on Wednesday, with Toyota Motor
Corp expected to lift the market after
better-than-expected earnings. 	
                                
 * The dollar eased and the Swiss franc stayed under pressure
early in Asia on Wednesday as markets took China's latest
interest rate hike in their stride, a move that helped the
Australian dollar hold well above parity against the greenback.
 	
                                
  	
                                
 DATA EVENTS/GMT 	
                                
 - 0300 Japan PAJ weekly oil inventory data Feb 5 
                                
- 0500 Japan Consumer confid. index Jan 2011    
- 1330 USDA World ag supply/demand ests Feb 2010     -
1330 USDA Crop production     - 1530 U.S. EIA petroleum
stocks Weekly 	
  	
                                
 RELATED NEWS	
> Fed officials see high bar for more bond buys      	
> McDonald's lifts Dow for seventh day; volume light 	
> China raises rates to battle high inflation       	
> Obama housing plan would hike mtg costs-sources   	
> Bank appetite for ECB funds below expectations    	
> German Dec industry output slides due to weather  	
> Brent up eyeing Egypt, US slips ahead of data     	
> Bank of France survey upbeat on growth            	
> Volkswagen pay deal touches inflation nerve       	
> UK retail sales bounce back, but outlook uncertain 	
> Brazil, Chile inflation speeds up; rate hikes seen 	
> Egyptians stage big protest, dismiss power plan   	
  	
 Precious metals prices 0029 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg  Turnover
 Spot Gold        1364.34    0.75  +0.06     -3.88
 Spot Silver        30.26   -0.05  -0.16     -1.94
 Spot Platinum    1858.99    3.75  +0.20      5.18
 Spot Palladium    836.25    0.53  +0.06      4.60
 TOCOM Gold       3624.00   37.00  +1.03     -2.82        27088
 TOCOM Platinum   4971.00   56.00  +1.14      5.86         9031
 TOCOM Silver       80.00    2.20  +2.83     -1.23         1215
 TOCOM Palladium  2226.00   46.00  +2.11      6.15          473
 Euro/Dollar       1.3619
 Dollar/Yen         82.28
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
	
 (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)	
 	
 	
 	
                                
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