* Gold bounces from lows; jewellers buy
* Gold to fall to $1,312 an ounce []
* Coming Up: U.S. ECRI econ activity index weekly; 1645
GMT
(Recasts)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Friday on
bargain hunting by jewellers after losing 1.5 percent in the
previous session, but was heading for its biggest weekly fall
since July ahead of a G20 finance ministers meeting.
Bullion got a boost from the dollar's failure to sustain
early gains after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
urged Group of 20 nations to refrain from currency policies
aimed at gaining a competitive edge.
Gold <XAU=> added $3.49 an ounce to $1,327.09 by 0628 GMT
after hitting a two-week low on Thursday as a drop in U.S.
initial jobless claims and a stalled euro rally spurred
selling. It was still more than 4 percent below a lifetime
high around $1,387 hit last week, with any rebound in the
dollar likely to spur another round of selling from investors.
"Next week, I wouldn't look at gold hitting a new high. For
next week, I am looking at a neutral to a slight downside bias
for gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.
"The G20 influences the movements of the dollar and
currently we are still seeing an inverse relationship between
gold versus the dollar. I am looking at short-term support for
gold at the $1,320 level."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> rose $2.1 an
ounce to $1,327.7 an ounce, having fallen as low as $1,318.20
on Thursday. []
For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102210074652.jpg
In a letter to G20 finance chiefs, Geithner also said that
nations with undervalued currencies should neither try to
weaken them or stand in the way of gains and G20 members should
aim to reduce their current account imbalances below specified
percentage of gross domestic product. []
The comments sent the euro and the Australian dollar to
their intraday highs. []
Purchases by jewellers stirred up the physical market, with
demand particularly strong from Thai consumers. That kept
premiums steady in Singapore at 50 to 70 cents to spot London
prices. <GOLD/ASIA1>
"We're seeing moderate buying from jewellers and bullion
dealers from the Far East. There's also physical gold bar
indent from Indonesia," said a dealer in Singapore.
"The Indonesians are showing interest to buy, but their
buying power is much lower these days."
Dealers expected purchases from jewellers in top consumer
India to pick up ahead of important religious festivals in
November because of a recent drop in gold prices. []
India is in the middle of its festival season, with
Dhanteras slated early next month, when jewellers register the
highest sales in the year. The festive season peaks with the
Diwali festival of lights in November.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings slipped to 1,298.266
tonnes by Oct. 21 from 1,299.177 tonnes on Oct 20. The holdings
hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
Precious metals prices at 0628 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1327.09 3.49 +0.26 21.12
Spot Silver 23.25 0.07 +0.30 38.15
Spot Platinum 1674.99 9.04 +0.54 14.18
Spot Palladium 591.99 10.46 +1.80 45.99
TOCOM Gold 3469.00 -38.00 -1.08 6.44
53174
TOCOM Platinum 4400.00 -3.00 -0.07 0.43
8453
TOCOM Silver 60.80 -1.20 -1.94 17.60
1618
TOCOM Palladium 1550.00 22.00 +1.44 33.05
210
Euro/Dollar 1.3958
Dollar/Yen 81.10
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Manash Goswami)
