* Gold flirts with $1,200, PGMs tumble on equities
* For technical on gold, click []
* Coming Up: U.S. Initial jobless claims Weekly; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds graphic)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Thursday on
bargain hunting after a drop the previous day, but a firmer
dollar was likely to cap gains, while falling stock markets
could prompt investors to sell bullion to cover losses.
Weaker equities and worries about the health of the global
economy sparked selling in platinum to its lowest since July
22, with sister metal palladium tumbling around 4 percent in
thin trade.
Gold <XAU=> added $1.75 an ounce to $1,198.75 an ounce by
0534 GMT, still hovering below the closely-watched 50-day
moving average. It briefly crossed $1,200 on Thursday but
bullion was well below a lifetime high around $1,264 struck in
June.
"I would expect the equity markets to continue to sell off.
We may see more gold selling as we've often seen before to
cover those margin calls," said Darren Heathcote, head of
trading at Investec Australia in Sydney.
"But then one might question whether or not, given the
uncertainty, we might get more safe haven buying. It's being
pulled both ways, in terms of selling for margin calls, but on
the other hand safe-haven investors will be attracted to gold."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> rose $1.7 to
$1,200.9 an ounce.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings rose to 1,285.787 tonnes
by Aug. 11 from 1,282.746 tonnes on Aug. 5. The holdings hit a
record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
The Nikkei average fell more than 2 percent after three
major Wall Street indexes on Wednesday posted their worst
percentage drops since July 16 as fears of sustained global
economic stagnation caused investors to flee to safe assets.
[] []
Platinum and palladium track equities because of their
industrial use, mostly in autocatalysts, and dealers said
Thursday's drop in prices was a knee-jerk reaction to declines
in Asian stocks. []
"I think we are just reacting to the drop in stock markets,
but there has been some physical buying from jewellers because
of cheaper prices," said a dealer in Hong Kong who trades
platinum.
Other dealers in Hong Kong and Tokyo said there were no
signs of physical selling, which suggested the drop was driven
by speculators.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic showing the 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20101208091922.jpg
For a graphic showing movements in platinum versus the
Nikkei:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx1/LWP_20101208113344.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Commodities consultant CPM Group said recently the platinum
market will see a narrower surplus in 2010 on the back of
strong investment interest during the launch of U.S.
platinum-backed exchange traded funds and a recovering auto
industry. []
The dollar steadied on Thursday after scoring its biggest
daily gain for nearly two years against most major currencies
the previous day as concerns about the U.S. and global
economies triggered a wave of unwinding in short dollar
positions. []
Precious metals prices at 0534 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1198.75 1.75 +0.15 9.40
Spot Silver 17.84 0.00 +0.00 6.00
Spot Platinum 1505.25 -40.75 -2.64 2.61
Spot Palladium 459.40 -17.60 -3.69 13.29
TOCOM Gold 3298.00 -3.00 -0.09 1.20
28575
TOCOM Platinum 4165.00 -94.00 -2.21 -4.93
24373
TOCOM Silver 49.80 -0.80 -1.58 -3.68
521
TOCOM Palladium 1271.00 -37.00 -2.83 9.10
427
Euro/Dollar 1.2888
Dollar/Yen 85.30
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
