* SDPR Gold Trust holdings unchanged for 2nd day
* Coming up: U.S. producer prices, industrial output
* For technicals on gold click []
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Thursday after
China's growth data for the second quarter was slightly weaker
than expected, helping revive the precious metal's allure as a
hedge at a time of economic uncertainty.
Meanwhile, economists expect Beijing to take no dramatic
policy response to Thursday's data, which is seen as positive for
the precious metal's demand in China, analysts said.
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"The GDP figure is still relatively good, and that could
prompt the Chinese to buy some amount of gold. So I see an
uptrend in the gold-friendly country," said Ong Yi Ling,
investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,212.45 per ounce as of 0346 GMT,
up 0.4 percent from late New York levels of $1,207.50. []
It rose to a one-week high of $1,217.85 an ounce on
Wednesday. But it later succumbed to profit-taking as the euro
and the U.S. equity markets fell, responding to lessening
investor interest in taking on risk after a downbeat assessment
of the U.S. economic recovery by the Federal Reserve.
Technically, it is expected to rise to $1,223 as the second
upward wave "c" is unfolding within a rising channel.
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Thursday's data showed China's economy slowed in the second
quarter as the government steered monetary and fiscal policy back
to normal after a record credit surge last year to counter the
global crisis. []
China's annual gross domestic product growth moderated to
10.3 percent from 11.9 percent in the first quarter. The reading
was slightly below market forecast of 10.5 percent growth.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> rose $5.10 or
0.4 percent to $1,212.10 per ounce. The contract fell $6.50 to
$1,207 on Wednesday.
"The downside for gold appears to be capped and we may see
some gains," said Phillip Futures' Ong Yi Ling.
"The pace of the economic recovery is slowing. This is
reinforced by the Fed's minutes and weak retail sales figures
yesterday and also the weaker than expected Chinese economic
figures. This may drive investors to seek out gold as a form of
portfolio insurance."
In other financial markets, the Australian dollar jumped
about 0.3 percentage point, paring earlier losses, while U.S. S&P
stock futures erased earlier losses on Thursday after a series of
Chinese data eased worries about a slowdown in China. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said holdings stood at 1,314.819 tonnes
as of Wednesday, unchanged for the second day in a row.
The holdings managed to rise earlier this week, reversing a
downtrend from a record 1,320.436 tonnes marked in late June.
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Precious metals prices at 0342 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1211.65 4.15 0.34 10.58
Spot Silver 18.33 0.09 0.49 8.91
Spot Platinum 1522.50 3.00 0.20 3.78
Spot Palladium 464.50 0.00 0.00 14.55
TOCOM Gold 3450 -29.00 -0.83 5.86 25776
TOCOM Platinum 4364 -48.00 -1.09 -0.39 11790
TOCOM Silver 53 0.00 0.00 2.13 88
TOCOM Palladium 1334 -10.00 -0.74 14.51 84
Euro/Dollar 1.2748
Dollar/Yen 88.2600
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
