* Gold holds near 1-week high in thin trade
* For the technical on gold, click []
* Coming Up: U.S. June personal income/spending; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug. 3 (Reuters) - Gold rose to near a 1-week
high on Tuesday as a weak U.S. dollar spurred buying from
investors, while jewellers were also expected to snap up the
metal ahead of the festive season.
But trading was thin ahead of a trail of U.S. data such as
June personal income, June factory orders and July auto sales,
offering clues on the health of the economy. Platinum and
palladium failed to sustain early gains.
Spot gold <XAU=> added $2.00 to $1,183.25 by 0305 GMT,
after rising to a 1-week high of around $1,190 on Monday,
partly driven by physical buying in Asia. The precious metal
was well below a lifetime high of $1,264.90 struck in June.
"I would look at the upside for gold being capped," said
Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in
Singapore, who pegged key support at a three-month low of
around $1,150.
"And hence, we might actually see gold edging down a little
bit if the economic data come in better than anticipated, like
the consumer spending and personal income figures."
For a graphic of the 24-hr gold technical outlook, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100308091255.jpg
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> hardly moved at
$1,185 an ounce after ending flat as gains in Wall Street
erased early increases.
The U.S. Dollar was hovering near a three-month low against
a basket of currencies on Tuesday on worries the U.S. growth
outlook is deteriorating and could force the Federal Reserve to
keep interest rates low. []
The Nikkei jumped 1.2 percent on easing worries about the
global economic recovery after strong European bank results
helped to send Wall Street to a 10-week closing high. []
"The market is quiet today with light buying interest from
investment. But we did see some buying from India as it builds
up stocks for the festival," said a physical dealer in
Singapore.
India's gold demand is picking up for the busy festival
season, starting with Raksha Bandhan on Aug. 24, and extending
till Dhanteras in November, the single-biggest gold buying day.
Jewellery makers in Indonesia also stock up before the Ramadan
fasting month in August.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings were unchanged at
1,282.279 tonnes, down nearly 3 percent from a record of
1,320.436 tonnes in late June 29. []
"Although it has declined a bit below the 1,300 level, it's
still pretty high," said Ong at Phillip Futures. "Unless, we
really see a mass exodus which I don't think will happen for
the time being."
The IMF sold 17.7 tonnes of gold in June under its gold
sales program, bringing to 71.4 tonnes the amount of bullion it
has sold on the open market since March, an IMF spokesman said
on Monday. []
Precious metals prices at 0305 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1183.25 2.00 +0.17 7.99
Spot Silver 18.35 0.01 +0.05 9.03
Spot Platinum 1586.00 -7.25 -0.46 8.11
Spot Palladium 507.00 -2.70 -0.53 25.03
TOCOM Gold 3297.00 -8.00 -0.24 1.17
22728
TOCOM Platinum 4448.00 0.00 +0.00 1.53
11311
TOCOM Silver 51.70 0.50 +0.98 0.00
419
TOCOM Palladium 1411.00 20.00 +1.44 21.12
356
Euro/Dollar 1.3164
Dollar/Yen 86.38
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Manash Goswami)
