* Gold to rebound to $1,384-technicals
* Coming Up: Japan Consumer confid. index Jan 2011;0500 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Wednesday,
after rising 1 percent the previous session, as investors and
other physical buyers in Asia hugged the sidelines following
China's second interest rate increase in just over six weeks.
But gold's ability to break above the 100-day moving average
raised the prospect of more gains in coming days, which could
lift silver, platinum and palladium. Bullion was well below a
lifetime high around $1,430 an ounce hit in December.
Spot gold fell $1.35 to $1,362.24 an ounce by 0259
GMT. It had risen as high as $1,367.83 on Tuesday, its strongest
since late January.
For a weekly gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20110902092240.jpg
"I think we could look for further gains in gold on
follow-through strength," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst
at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "Investors were already
expecting that China would raise interest rates sometimes during
this Lunar New Year holiday."
U.S. gold futures for April hardly changed at
$1,363.2 an ounce.
China raised interest rates on Tuesday as it intensified a
battle against stubbornly high inflation that threatens to
unsettle global markets.
The timing was a surprise, coming on the final day of
the Lunar New Year holiday, but investors have long
expected more monetary tightening as Beijing struggles to rein
in price pressures and ward off a property bubble in an economy
that grew at a double-digit pace last year.
In theory, a tightening in China could put pressure on
demand for industrial metals and gold, but dealers said the
bullion market was still digesting the news.
Spot gold may rebound further to $1,384 an ounce,
based on its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis,
said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and
energy technicals.
"I think the price is on the higher end after the rebound.
That's why we don't see much activity. We have to see if China
is going to come back and buy," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"It looks like ETF holdings continue to fall. We have to see
if people are shifting to stock market because the economy is
recovering. The stock market is more attractive than gold."
Shares in Asian developed markets rose and the dollar and
Swiss franc eased on Wednesday, as investors bet that China's
latest interest rate rise would not damp a sustained economic
recovery.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings slipped 1,228.560 tonnes by
Feb. 8 from 1,228.864 tonnes on Feb. 4.
Precious metals prices 0259 GMT
Metal Last Change
Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1362.24 -1.35
-0.10 -4.03
Spot Silver 30.09 -0.22
-0.73 -2.50
Spot Platinum 1858.49
3.25 +0.18 5.15
Spot Palladium 835.25
-0.47 -0.06 4.47
TOCOM Gold 3622.00 35.00
+0.98 -2.87 36844
TOCOM Platinum 4976.00
61.00 +1.24 5.96 13639
TOCOM Silver 79.80 2.00
+2.57 -1.48 1681
TOCOM Palladium 2221.00
41.00 +1.88 5.91 584
Euro/Dollar 1.3634
Dollar/Yen 82.34
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in
$ per ounce.
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain)
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