* Gold hits high around $1,209, physicals active
* For the technicals on gold, click []
* Coming Up; ISM N-Mfg PMI; 1400 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 6 (Reuters) - Gold rose slightly on Tuesday
after a recent drop in prices spurred buying from jewellers in
Asia, but a firmer U.S. dollar and volatile stock markets could
prompt speculators to sell bullion to cover losses.
Gold's failure to revisit a recent record could also spur
some selling, though dealers expected jewellers to snap up the
metal at lower levels. Platinum fell to its weakest since late
May on lower equities, while palladium saw bargain buying after
recent declines.
Gold <XAU=> added 35 cents to $1,207.30 an ounce by 0535
GMT, having hit a high around $1,209. Gold slipped 3.4 percent
last week, moving away from the record $1,264.90 hit in June,
as risk aversion linked to fears over Europe's debt crisis
waned.
"What gold needs now is a fresh catalyst. It needs
something to trigger it to go higher. We might be seeing
investors cashing up to rebalance other markets," said Mark
Pervan, senior commodities analyst at ANZ in Melbourne.
"There's certainly been a fair bit of disappointment that
it was unable to break a fresh record high early last week,"
said Pervan, who pegged support at a May level around $1,170 an
ounce.
For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook,
click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20100607090850.jpg
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> added $1.2 to
$1,208.9 an ounce, having traded as low as $1,203.4. U.S.
financial markets reopen on Tuesday after a holiday for the
country's independence day.
"There's very good physical demand out of Indonesia and
Thailand. Premiums now range from 40 to 70 cents," said a
dealer in Singapore, who offered gold bars at a premium of up
to 60 cents last week.
Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, were unchanged at 1,318.915
tonnes. []
The euro <EUR=> edged down to $1.2514, with global risk
appetite taking a beating on growing worries about the health
of the euro zone's banking system, a slowdown in China and
risks of a double-dip recession in the United States. []
The Nikkei rebounded on Tuesday, having fallen to a seven
month low on economic worries and after the yen firmed on
comments from ex-IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff on the
website of news agency Bloomberg that China's property market
was beginning a "collapse". [] []
A bullion dealer in Hong Kong said, "There's a bit of
physical buying because the price is more or less similar to
yesterday's levels. I guess people wait for the U.S. market
reopen and then see what happens."
He added, "We have to watch out if the U.S. is in a
recession. If it's in a recession, then investors will be
selling gold. If there's no money in their pockets, how can
they buy gold?"
Commodities began the third quarter with a near 5 percent
tumble in oil and a sharp sell-off in metals as fears of a
global economic slowdown extended the sector's woeful
performance in the past three months. [] Precious
metals prices at 0535 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1207.30 0.35 +0.03 10.19
Spot Silver 17.80 0.05 +0.28 5.76
Spot Platinum 1498.03 -8.47 -0.56 2.12
Spot Palladium 430.00 2.00 +0.47 6.04
TOCOM Gold 3416.00 -23.00 -0.67 4.82
33368
TOCOM Platinum 4257.00 -29.00 -0.68 -2.83
18206
TOCOM Silver 51.00 -0.20 -0.39 -1.35
465
TOCOM Palladium 1229.00 6.00 +0.49 5.49
242
Euro/Dollar 1.2544
Dollar/Yen 87.70
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by)
