* ECB resists pressure to step up bond buying
* Euro, stocks up after brief dip post Trichet
* Chinese imports soar in 2010 to date, data shows
(Updates with prices, quote, Trichet comments)
By Elizabeth Fullerton and Jan Harvey
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Gold bounced back above $1,390 an
ounce on Thursday, helped by gains in the euro and safe-haven
buying as investors continued to fret about the outlook for the
euro zone debt crisis.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the
ECB would keep giving banks unlimited liquidity well into next
year as the euro zone debt crisis rages unabated, but it made no
commitment to ramp up its government bond buying.
Spot gold <XAU=> was up 0.3 percent to $1,391.71 an ounce at
1551 GMT. In the immediate aftermath of Trichet's comments it
had touched a session low of $1,383.79 an ounce, tracking the
euro lower.U.S. gold futures for February <GCG1> were up $4.40
an ounce to at $1,391.70 an ounce.
"There's obviously been a bit of ECB: 'what will they do/how
will it help sovereign risk fears in Europe', but we've still
got concerns on Portugal and Spain and I think those will linger
which will sustain those inflows into ETFs (exchange traded
funds)," said Michael Lewis, analyst at Deutsche Bank.
The euro recovered the losses it made after Trichet made no
clear commitment to further bond purchases and the premium
investors demand to buy Portuguese and Irish debt over German
benchmark bonds fell amid talk the ECB had been buying the two
countries' bonds. [] []
The ECB left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low
1.0 percent, as expected.
Gold has made solid gains this week, currently up more than
2 percent, amid investor jitters that the crisis could spread.
"The market does have the ingredients for a bubble, but we
don't really feel we're there yet," said Lewis, noting that gold
would only start to look expensive around $1,450 since real
interest rates were expected to stay low.
"People are buying it when the dollar's falling, they're
buying when the dollar's rising, they're buying gold as an
inflation hedge and they're also buying gold as a hedge against
deflation," he added.
CHINESE IMPORTS FALL
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange said
on Thursday that China's gold imports soared in the first 10
months of the year to 209.72 tonnes. The country was the world's
second biggest gold consumer last year.
Elsewhere, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings rose to
1,293.891 tonnes by Dec 1 from 1,286.603 tonnes previously. The
holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
Wednesday's more-than-seven-tonne rise represents the
largest one-day inflow to the fund since Oct. 14, and comes
after the trust's holdings fell in both October and November.
U.S. bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N> said on Wednesday it expects
gold prices to peak near $1,750 an ounce in 2012 on rising U.S.
interest rates, even as the metal's rally is expected to
continue in 2011 due to quantitative easing.
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For a story discussing the relative price performance of key
commodities in 2010, click on []
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In the rest of the precious metals complex, palladium <XPD=>
was the star performer, jumping to more than nine-year highs at
$756.50 an ounce. It was later up 2.9 percent at $750.40.
Adrien Biondi, global head of precious metals at
Commerzbank, said palladium had long been undervalued and was
now playing catch-up, helped by the euro zone crisis, which has
benefited the whole complex, and physical demand.
"The industry, especially in Germany, is doing better, the
car industry is doing better and hence there's more demand,
investors are catching up," he said, noting the rally had the
potential to reach $900.
Silver <XAG=> erased early losses to trade up around 1
percent at $28.71 an ounce, while platinum <XPT=> rose 1.5
percent to $1,711.24.
(Editing by Keiron Henderson)
