* Gold rebounds from 2-week lows; PGMs weaken
* China consumer inflation rises more than expected
* Coming Up: Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1330 GMT)
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 11 (Reuters) - Gold regained some strength
on Thursday after falling to its lowest in nearly two weeks the
previous day, though poor technicals and failure to sustain
recent gains may spur selling, traders said.
Bullion has seen a series of correction since striking a
lifetime high $1,200 an ounce last December. Although it has
rebounded from a three-month low around $1,043 February, a
build up in long positions in New York futures has now
threatened to cap any gains.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,108.90 an ounce by 0305 GMT, up
$1.05 from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it fell
to as low as $1,102.85 an ounce, its lowest level since Feb.
25, as safe-haven buying on Greek sovereign debt worries
tapered off.
Gold rose above the 50-day moving average on Thursday as
bargain hunters resurfaced but it remained below the 100-day
moving average, with strong Chinese inflation data triggering
worries about further monetary tightening.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,115.511 tonnes
as of March 10, down 0.609 tonnes from the previous business
day. []
"We have seen investors withdraw holdings in the SPDR ETF,
which has stalled the upward trend seen since the end of
February," said David Barclay, commodity strategist at Standard
Chartered in Hong Kong.
"The stronger than expected CPI numbers out of China this
morning raise the prospect of a 27 (basis point) rate hike by
end-Q1, which would move policy further away from a super-loose
stance to a more accommodative one. This could weigh on
commodities markets in the near term which would be bearish for
gold."
Chinese consumer inflation rose more than expected in the
year to February, while factory output and retail sales data
for the first two months showed the economy started 2010 with a
strong head of steam. []
Coming a day after surprisingly strong export and import
data, the figures could reinforce the case for further monetary
tightening even as central bank data showed the pace of credit
growth halved in February.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> added $1.2 to
$1,109.3 an ounce, having ended 1.3 percent lower on
Wednesday.
The latest Commitment of Traders report by the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed net long
noncommercial gold futures positions at 207,372 contracts, up
3.4 percent from the prior week and up 14 percent during the
last four weeks.
"We've see a little bit of buying but the market comes off
after it reaches $1,111. I think the concern now is whether
China is going to raise interest rates, then it will affect
sentiment in commodities," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
The euro was trading around $1.3650 <EUR=>, having risen
0.4 percent on Wednesday. U.S. crude futures fell below $82 a
barrel on Thursday after hitting an eight-week high above $83 a
day earlier on government data showing an unexpected decline in
U.S. gasoline inventories. [] []
Singapore Commodity Exchange (SICOM), a unit of Singapore
Exchange (SGX) <SGXL.SI>, said it will commence trading of its
new gold deferred settlement contract on March 30.
[] Precious metals prices at 0305 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1108.90 1.05 +0.09 1.20
Spot Silver 16.86 -0.11 -0.65 0.18
Spot Platinum 1587.00 -5.00 -0.31 8.18
Spot Palladium 454.50 -7.00 -1.52 12.08
TOCOM Gold 3230.00 -42.00 -1.28 -0.89
35066
TOCOM Platinum 4598.00 -38.00 -0.82 4.95
14183
TOCOM Silver 49.40 -1.70 -3.33 -4.45
762
TOCOM Palladium 1307.00 -52.00 -3.83 12.19
457
Euro/Dollar 1.3639
Dollar/Yen 90.30
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
