* Gold little changed, struggles to gain upward momentum
* ECB extends safety net to banks; no bond-buying program
* Chinese imports soar in 2010 to date, data shows
* Coming up: U.S. October nonfarm payrolls on Friday
(Recasts, updates with quotes, closing market prices,
changes byline/dateline, previously LONDON)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Gold turned flat on Thursday
after failing to break above $1,400 an ounce, as safe-haven
buying faded after European lenders offered a liquidity safety
net for vulnerable banks and as U.S. data showed signs of an
improving economy.
Silver and platinum group metals gained on news that a
gauge of jobless benefits hit a new two-year low, pending home
sales unexpectedly rose in October, and retailers posted their
best sales gains in four years in November. []
Wall Street rose sharply for a second straight day, with
the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.SPX> climbing over 1
percent.
"In gold, you are seeing some traders who are reallocating
to other markets due to strength in stocks after indications of
improving economy," said George Gero, precious metals
strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
Gold has struggled to gain upward momentum for a new test
of its record high at $1,424.10 an ounce set on Nov. 9, in
spite of lingering worries that Europe's debt crisis could
spread to other countries following bailouts of Ireland and
Greece.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said
the ECB would keep providing banks unlimited liquidity well
into next year, but it did not commit to a major bond-buying
program to contain the euro zone crisis. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was up less than 0.1 percent at $1,388.60
an ounce at 2:08 p.m. EST (1908 GMT), having earlier set a
three-week high at $1,398.20. U.S. gold futures for February
<GCG1> settled up $1 at $1,389.30 an ounce.
Spot silver <.XAG=> rose 0.5 percent to $28.58 an ounce.
COMEX gold and silver volume was sharply lower than their
30-day average, and trading was highly volatile because of the
thin turnover.
Bullion had looked set to go above $1,400 an ounce, but
investors took profits as the metal approached that level
several times in earlier trade but failed to break it.
The euro rose in volatile trading, boosted by reports the
ECB was buying euro zone bonds, but uncertainty over the
outlook for peripheral euro zone countries should keep the
currency under pressure. []
"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 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 nearly 2
percent, amid investor jitters that the crisis could spread.
CHINESE IMPORTS FALL
In China, the world's second biggest gold consumer, the
chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange said on Thursday that
the country's gold imports soared in the first 10 months of the
year to 209.72 tonnes.
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.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Story on relative price performance of
key commodities in 2010: []
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
In the rest of the precious metals complex, palladium
<XPD=> continues to be the star performer, jumping to a 9-1/2
year highs at $768.22 an ounce. It later rose 3.8 percent to
$759.47. Platinum <XPT=> rose 1.8 percent to $1,712.74.
Prices at 2:27 p.m. EST (1927 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCG1> 1389.30 1.00 0.1% 26.7%
US silver <SIH1> 28.572 0.159 0.0% 69.6%
US platinum <PLF1> 1713.10 29.10 1.7% 16.5%
US palladium <PAH1> 763.70 31.40 4.3% 86.8%
Gold <XAU=> 1389.70 2.35 0.2% 26.8%
Silver <XAG=> 28.68 0.23 0.8% 70.3%
Platinum <XPT=> 1712.74 30.00 1.8% 16.9%
Palladium <XPD=> 759.47 27.98 3.8% 87.3%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1389.00 -1.00 -0.1% 25.8%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 28.50 -24.00 -0.8% 67.7%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1700.00 10.00 0.6% 16.0%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 741.00 8.00 1.1% 84.3%
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Fullerton and Jan Harvey in
London; Editing by Kieran Murray)
