* Gold to rebound to $1,384-technicals
* Physical buyers on sidelines, premiums slip
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold was barely changed on
Wednesday, after rising 1 percent in 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 hardly moved at $1,363.90 an ounce by 0702
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 was steady at $1,364.6 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 are continuing to fall. We have
to see if people are shifting to the stock market because the
economy is recovering. The stock market is more attractive than
gold."
Asian shares fell on Wednesday, but government bond yields
rose and the dollar and Swiss franc eased as investors bet
Beijing's policy tightening would not derail hopes of 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.
"We saw good physical buying from Indonesia yesterday due to
a firmer rupiah," said a dealer in Singapore.
"But today is a different picture. It's very quiet
everywhere and no one is willing to sell. The premium is trading
at $1.60 for new indent," he said.
Dealers in Singapore offered premiums at as high as $1.9 an
ounce to the spot London futures on Tuesday.
Precious metals prices 0702 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1363.90 0.31 +0.02 -3.91
Spot Silver 30.15 -0.16 -0.53 -2.30
Spot Platinum 1858.55 3.31 +0.18 5.15
Spot Palladium 833.72 -2.00 -0.24 4.28
TOCOM Gold 3624.00 37.00 +1.03 -2.82 51460
TOCOM Platinum 4974.00 59.00 +1.20 5.92 19219
TOCOM Silver 79.40 1.60 +2.06 -1.98 2096
TOCOM Palladium 2217.00 37.00 +1.70 5.72 727
Euro/Dollar 1.3651
Dollar/Yen 82.37
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in
$ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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