* Gold rallies after jobless claims trigger safe-haven bid
* GLD ETF holdings rise first time in a week
* Coming up: U.S. consumer price index data Friday
(Recasts, updates prices, comments; adds NEW YORK
byline/dateline)
By Frank Tang and Amanda Cooper
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold prices were on
track to their biggest one-day rally in more than two months on
Thursday as disappointing U.S. economic data further eroded
investor confidence, prompting a surge of interest in perceived
safe-haven assets.
Gold prices hit a four-week high amid a strong dollar and
two days of sharp equity market losses after the Federal
Reserve downgraded its economic outlook and said it needed to
buy government debt to boost a flagging economy.
On Thursday, gold accelerated gains to rise about $10 in
the minutes after data showed the number of U.S. workers
filing new claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose
last week to a near six-month high, a fresh signal of a weak
jobs market.
New York precious metals brokers said that buy stops were
triggered after the jobless claims data, and as investors opted
to cover their short positions to avoid losses as prices kept
rising.
Gold <XAU=> was at $1,213.45 an ounce by 11:52 a.m. EDT
(1552 GMT), against $1,197.00 late in New York on Wednesday,
still nearly 5 percent below late June's lifetime high around
$1,264.
Gold for December delivery on COMEX <GCZ0> was up $16.10,
or 1.3 percent, at $1,215.30 an ounce. It was December's
biggest one-day percentage gain since June 7.
Wall Street came under pressure for a second day after the
jobless claims data, and after a NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll showed almost two-thirds of Americans believe the U.S.
economy will worsen before it gets better. []
"It's a combination of a macro environment being favorable
to gold (and) actually physical demand has improved as well, so
we would expect prices to gain some momentum," Barclays Capital
strategist Suki Cooper said, adding that her team expected gold
to average $1,260 an ounce in the final three months of this
year.
The metal rose even as the dollar extended the previous
day's strong gains due to risk aversion and
weaker-than-expected Greek economic data. []
Traders also cited a research note from Goldman Sachs,
which upgraded its forecast for the gold price, as a driver to
the rally in the price on Thursday.
"The recent sell-off has left speculative long positions in
gold oversold relative to U.S. real interest rates, which we
believe has set the stage for a rally to our six-month gold
price target of $1,300/oz," Goldman said.
PHYSICAL GOLD DEMAND RISES
Although demand from key Asian consumers has been
suppressed by the rise in gold prices over the past week or so,
the desire for a safe haven as financial market volatility
increases has translated into a rise in investment demand.
[]
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings rose for the first time
in a week. []
Silver <XAG=> benefited from gold's rise, and was at $18.01
an ounce, up from $17.84 the day before.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,522.50 an ounce, down around
1.5 percent from the levels late in New York on Wednesday, but
up from an intraday low of $1,500.75. Palladium <XPD=> was at
$466.75, versus $477.00 Wednesday.
Asian traders said earlier the drop in PGM prices was a
knee-jerk reaction to declines in equity markets. []
However, investor sentiment in PGMs should receive a boost
after General Motors [] posted its biggest quarterly
profit in six years. The top U.S. carmaker is also expected to
file for initial public offering on Friday to raise $10 billion
in equity, the biggest U.S. IPO since 2008. []
Prices at 12:16 p.m. EDT (1616 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCZ0> 1215.60 16.40 1.4% 10.9%
US silver <SIU0> 18.050 0.148 0.8% 7.2%
US platinum <PLV0> 1529.00 8.40 0.6% 3.9%
US palladium <PAU0> 470.45 5.75 1.2% 15.1%
Gold <XAU=> 1213.10 16.35 1.4% 10.7%
Silver <XAG=> 18.02 0.18 1.0% 7.0%
Platinum <XPT=> 1522.25 -23.75 -1.5% 3.9%
Palladium <XPD=> 466.78 -10.22 -2.1% 15.1%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1213.00 13.00 1.1% 9.9%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 17.92 -20.00 -1.1% 5.5%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1524.00 13.00 0.9% 4.0%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 469.00 4.00 0.9% 16.7%
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; Editing
by Walter Bagley)
