* Gold rebounds on charts, awaits Fed, U.S. Q1 GDP data
* Platinum bounces after hitting 1-month low
* ETF gold holdings unchanged
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Wednesday
but its failure to break above recent highs around $918 an
ounce could still spur technical selling, with investors also
unwinding positions ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and U.S.
GDP data.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but
markets will be looking for any extension of quantitative
easing and for assessments for any early signs of a recovery in
the United States.
Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $893.25 an ounce, up $2.15
from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it posted its
biggest daily percentage drop in almost two weeks.
"The recovery seen in the early trading hours seems to be
more of a technical rebound after gold slipped by about 3.5
percent over the last two sessions," said Pradeep Unni, senior
research analyst with Richcomm Global in Dubai.
"If gold manages to hold above $885-$890 zone, this
recovery could extend towards $900-$907 levels," said Unni,
referring to a range seen on Tuesday.
Gold rallied to a near four-week high of $918.25 on Monday
as equity markets fell, due partly to fears a swine flu
outbreak could hurt the economy, and hopes China could buy more
gold to boost reserves.
But a failure to breach that level, weak oil prices and a
firm dollar against the euro prompted speculators to lock in
profits and triggering technical selling.
"You can say we are slightly bearish on gold because it's
below $900. There's some stop-loss selling," said Ronald Leung,
director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, referring to
a drop to an intra-day low of $887.50.
Trading was thin in Asia, with Japanese speculators away
for a local holiday.
"After we moved back down the $900s, I am neutral on gold
now. Seems like we are going to be in a range trade. I still
think that the equity markets and the global economy is the
factor to look at," said a dealer in Singapore.
"I think we got to look out for a couple of things today,
including the FOMC meeting and U.S. advance Q1 GDP. I am
hearing a lot of news about the swine flu but I am not very
convinced the the markets are very much focused on this yet.
Gold for June delivery <GCM9> added $0.6 an ounce at
$894.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Commodities investors have been spooked by fears of a swine
flu pandemic, with new infections found around the world on
Tuesday as governments warned people to stay away from Mexico
where 149 people have died. []
Investors are awaiting first-quarter U.S. gross domestic
product on Wednesday. Median forecast is for a contraction of
4.9 percent annualised, but estimates range as deep as an 8.0
percent drop <ECONUS>.
Platinum <XPT=>, used as an autocatalyst, was up $7.00 at
$1,094.50 an ounce, after falling as low as $1,066.50 on
Tuesday, its weakest since March 19, to track declines in
equities markets and as worries about demand from automakers
resurfaced.
Chrysler LLC's [] biggest lenders and the U.S.
government reached a breakthrough framework deal to cut the
automakers' debt by $6.9 billion, but bankruptcy still loomed
as a strong possibility to complete restructuring.
[]
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings remained unchanged from
the previous day at 1,104.45 tonnes on April 28. []
Precious metals prices at 0533 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30
RSI Spot gold $893.25 $2.15 +0.24% -0.42% $860.10
66
Spot silver $12.48 $0.03 +0.24% +4.17% $11.29
47
Spot plat $1094.50 $7.00 +0.64% -3.91% $1155.52
25
COMEX gold $894.30 $1.50 +0.17% -1.45% $905.67
47
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.321 -$0.002 -0.19% -0.32%
Dlr/yen 96.82 0.05 +0.05% -0.34%
