TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) - Spot gold prices rose to their
highest in four months on a jump in the euro and investment
demand, while platinum and palladium hit multi-month highs on
expectations of strengthening industrial demand as the economy
recovers.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> climbed as high as $1,168.70 per ounce
early in Asian trade on Monday, its highest since Dec. 4, and
stood at $1,165.35 as of 0014 GMT, up 0.5 percent from New York's
notional close of $1,159.00.
* Gold prices were underpinned by investors fleeing to safety
amid lingering concerns about Europe's financial stability,
symbolised by Greece's debt crisis. The metal ended last week up
about 3 percent, the biggest gain since the week of Jan. 10.
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> inched up 0.4
percent at $1,166.40 per ounce compared to $1,161.90 an ounce on
the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings hit an all-time high of
1,141.041 tonnes as of April 9, topping the previous record hit
the day before. []
* Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to a two-year high above
$511.50, while spot platinum <XPT=> marked a 20-month high above
$1,724.00. []
* Silver <XAG=> rose as high as $18.53 an ounce, the highest
since Jan. 20.
* Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions jumped
17 percent to 203,466 contracts in the week that ended on April 6
from 173,766 contracts a week earlier, the biggest percentage
rise in eight months and the highest level in a month.
[]
MARKET NEWS
* Nikkei was up 0.8 percent on Monday. []
* U.S. stocks rose on Friday with the Dow surpassing 11,000
for the first time in a year-and-a-half after Chevron's upbeat
outlook and wholesale inventories data reinforced bets on an
improving economy. []
* The euro jumped to its highest in nearly a month in early
Asian trade on Monday, after European Union leaders agreed to a
rescue package for Greece which traders said could drive
investors to cover short positions. []
* Oil prices <CLc1> rose above $85 a barrel on Monday, after
falling for the third day in a row on Friday due to bloated
inventories stoking concerns about weak demand. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: <ECON>
- U.S. Federal budget for March. (1800 GMT)
- UK BRC March retail sales survey. (2301 GMT)
- UK March RICS house price survey. (2301 GMT)
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>Euro zone readies huge rescue package for Greece[]
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>Gold, copper rise to snap broad 3-day decline []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0027 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg 2 Day chg MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1166.00 $7.00 +0.60% +0.70% $1121.74 82
Spot silver $18.51 $0.16 +0.87% +1.82% $17.40 79
Spot plat $1730.00 $18.00 +1.05% +2.13% $1630.82 84
COMEX gold $1166.50 $37.10 +3.28% +1.31% $1124.32 82
TOCOM gold 3,499 24 +0.69% +0.29% 3,323 85
TOCOM plat 5,170 27 +0.52% +0.23% 4,826 80
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.364 $0.001 +0.11% +1.05%
Dlr/yen 93.08 -0.07 -0.08% -0.08%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
