* Gold tracks euro higher, awaits U.S. data
* Oil bounces higher, ETF holdings unchanged
(Adds quotes, comments from China)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday as the
euro extended gains against the dollar and oil prices
rebounded, but investors were cautious ahead of potentially
market-moving U.S. economic data.
Gold regained the psychological $1,100 level on Thursday on
bargain hunting and an unverified report that China would buy
IMF gold. But the author of the report later told Reuters she
did not have official sources for her story. []
Gold <XAU=> hit an intraday high of $1,112.55 an ounce and
was at $1,109.80 by 0809 GMT, up $5.10 from New York's notional
close on Thursday -- still below a 1-month high of around
$1,130 hit on Monday but about 6 percent above a 3-month low
struck in early February.
"Gold has moved higher but only what you'd expect with
movements in euro-dollar. I don't believe it makes sense for
China to make such a big public purchase of the remaining
gold," said David Barclay, commodity strategist at Standard
Chartered in Hong Kong.
"You can see the impact when India bought, prices went on
to rally substantially after that. China has added sensitivity
over the fact that it's got such large dollar holdings."
Rough & Polished, a Moscow-based industry website, reported
China had "confirmed its decision to acquire 191.3 tonnes of
gold auctioned by the International Monetary Fund".
Contacted by Reuters, the author of the article, Nadezhda
Shagrova, who works as a tour guide and journalist in Shanghai,
said she did not have any official information to back up her
story.
"The source for the story? Well, that's been written about
in lots of places. I mean, Xinhua news agency wrote about that
and other official Chinese sources, lots of them. Why are you
asking?"
The IMF has said it would soon begin sales of 191.3 tonnes
of gold to raise cash for lending programmes -- nearly four
months after India purchased 200 tonnes of gold. Traders have
speculated Asian central banks would be likely buyers.
[]
Xia Bin, head of China's financial institute of the
Development Research Centre, a think-tank associated with the
country's cabinet, said on Friday China has to keep buying gold
over a long period and any price fall would present a good
buying opportunity.
But he said he had no idea if China would buy 191 tonnes of
gold being offered for sale by the International Monetary Fund.
[]
The euro <EUR=> edged up to $1.3587, although dealers said
sentiment on the single currency is negative because of debt
problems in the euro zone. []
Investors turn their attention to U.S. economic reports on
fourth-quarter gross domestic product, consumer sentiment for
February and existing home sales for January, which could set
the tone for the dollar.
U.S. data of late has been on the softer side. On Thursday,
it showed core durable goods unexpectedly fell in January,
while applications for jobless benefits rose again last week,
putting pressure on the dollar. []
Spot trading was muted in Asia, with dealers discounting
talk about China's purchase of the IMF gold.
"When you talk about the Chinese, they will buy spot gold
at the lower end, although I don't really see any fixed
pattern," said a trader in Singapore, who deals with trading
houses and banks in China.
"The euro has rebounded a bit, so that could be the reason
why gold is up now. But even if price goes up, it's still not
out of the range yet," said the dealer, referring to $1,100 to
$1,130 an ounce.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJO> added $1.9 an
ounce to $1,110.4 an ounce, having settled 1 percent higher on
Thursday.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,106.987 tonnes
as of Feb. 25, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
Oil prices rebounded above $78 a barrel on Friday after
sliding more than 2 percent the day before, lifted by a weaker
dollar, but worries over the U.S. economy weighed on the
market. []
Precious metals prices at 0809 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1109.80 5.10 +0.46 1.29
Spot Silver 16.08 0.04 +0.25 -4.46
Spot Platinum 1524.00 -5.00 -0.33 3.89
Spot Palladium 421.50 1.50 +0.36 3.95
TOCOM Gold 3198.00 0.00 +0.00 -1.87
632
TOCOM Platinum 4389.00 -13.00 -0.30 0.18
281
TOCOM Silver 46.90 -0.30 -0.64 -9.28
10
TOCOM Palladium 1215.00 -1.00 -0.08 4.29
1
Euro/Dollar 1.3555
Dollar/Yen 89.32
(Additional reporting by Tom Miles and Zhou Xin; Editing by)
