* Gold regains strength on physicals, PGMs up
* For the technical on gold, click: []
* Coming Up: U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI, July; 1400 GMT
(Updates prices, adds graphic)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Gold strengthened on Monday
after jewellers resurfaced at lower levels, while strong
equities lifted platinum group metals despite a lack of buying
interest from automakers.
Asian stocks rose on strong corporate earnings and shrugged
off news that Chinese manufacturing shrank in July amid
investor hopes that the world's fastest growing major economy
will expand strongly. []
Spot gold <XAU=> added $1.75 to $1,183.25 by 0553 GMT after
hitting a low of $1,179.20 an ounce. Despite the gain, bullion
was still around 6 percent below a lifetime high of $1,264.90
struck in June.
For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook,
click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100208090110.jpg
"We can say that physical buying at the lower end in the
Asian region absorbs selling from the ETF. There's more
interest over there at $1,170 or below," said Ronald Leung,
director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"Gold has recovered due to some kind of technical buying.
But I think the market is still thin. Both investors and
jewellery makers have been buying at the lower end."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> rose $1.5 to
$1,185.4 an ounce after settling up 1.1 percent. Gold had risen
after data showed U.S. economic growth slowed in the second
quarter, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of
2010. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said holdings were unchanged at 1,282.279
tonnes, having dropped more than 18 tonnes in late July. The
holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29.
[]
Platinum <XPT=> rose to its strongest since late June on
fund buying driven by gains in stock markets and industrial
metals such as LME copper <CMCU3>. Sister metal palladium
<XPD=> matched a five-week high hit on Friday.
Platinum and palladium are used by the auto industry in
catalytic converters to clean tailpipe emissions.
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For a graphic of movements in the Nikkei and PGMs, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx1/LWP_20100208114141.jpg
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"We could see a little bit of demand from the industrial
side for palladium last week but things have slowed down
because the price is near $500. The industrial side is just
checking for prices," said a physical dealer in Tokyo.
"It's also the same thing for platinum. We even see some
selling from retail investors," he added.
Analysts see platinum prices rising as a gradual economic
recovery leads to increased demand for the autocatalyst metal,
but some of the euphoria that lifted forecasts earlier this
year has evaporated after a hefty correction in May, a Reuters
poll showed in late July. []
The high-yielding Australian dollar rose on Monday helped
by a rise in equities, while the dollar hit a three-month low
against a basket of currencies, hurt by persistent worries that
the U.S. economy's recovery is losing steam. []
Precious metals prices at 0553 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1183.25 1.75 +0.15 7.99
Spot Silver 18.12 0.16 +0.89 7.66
Spot Platinum 1581.60 15.05 +0.96 7.81
Spot Palladium 494.95 3.95 +0.80 22.06
TOCOM Gold 3306.00 47.00 +1.44 1.44
29099
TOCOM Platinum 4449.00 99.00 +2.28 1.55
15318
TOCOM Silver 51.30 1.70 +3.43 -0.77
355
TOCOM Palladium 1386.00 29.00 +2.14 18.97
244
Euro/Dollar 1.3080
Dollar/Yen 86.61
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
