* Gold climbs as euro wins respite but gains fragile
* Oil, other commodities bounce back as dollar retreats
* Indian import duty hike seen hitting gold imports
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday as the euro
rebounded against the dollar from the near nine-month lows it
reached in the last session, though the metal retreated from
highs as the U.S. unit pared losses after U.S. GDP data.
A government report showed the U.S. economy grew a touch
faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter as
businesses drew down inventories at a much slower pace and
boosted investment. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,110.85 an ounce at 1436 GMT,
against $1,104.70 late in New York on Thursday, having earlier
risen as high as $1,113.90 an ounce.
"Our view for this year is that the dollar is going to keep
weakening, and that would be supportive for gold," said Standard
Chartered analyst Daniel Smith.
"At the moment momentum is in the direction of dollar
strength, so we haven't convincingly broken out of that trend
yet, but the focus should be on what is going to happen in the
medium term, which will be further dollar weakness as the
economic recovery sets in."
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.20 to
$1,108.90 an ounce.
The euro's recovery supported gold. Dollar weakness boosts
gold's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced
commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. []
Gold priced in euros <XAUEUR=R> also rose to a day high of
820.19 an ounce, against 815.61 an ounce late on Thursday. It
was later at 818.40 euros an ounce.
"It is clear... (for) gold in euro terms that the trend
remains rather clearly upward," said Dennis Gartman, editor of
trading note the Gartman Letter.
Other commodities also recovered, with oil prices turning
higher after slipping as low as $77.05 a barrel on Thursday, as
the dollar's retreat provided some respite to the market. []
INDIA HIKES IMPORT DUTIES
Elsewhere, traders and analysts said India's move to raise
customs duties on precious metals will impact imports of the
metals that were beginning to bounce back after a sharp fall in
2009 []
Jewellery buying in India fell last year as high prices hit
demand, but the head of the Bombay Bullion Association estimated
on Thursday that the country's gold imports so far in February
were about four times the level of a year ago. []
Elsewhere the head of the financial institute of the
Development Research Centre, a Cabinet think-tank, said China
has to keep buying gold over a long period and any price fall
<XAU=> will present a good buying opportunity. []
An unsourced story that emerged on Thursday that China had
agreed to buy 191 tonnes of gold from the IMF was firmly
rebutted by the author early on Friday. []
Silver <XAG=> was bid at $16.18 an ounce against $16.04,
tracking gains in gold. Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,530 an ounce
against $1,529, and palladium <XPD=> at $427.50 against $420.
In a weekly report, Barclays Capital said the New York-based
platinum and palladium exchange-traded funds launched earlier
this year by the U.S. arm of London's ETF Securities could have
a significant impact on the two metals' market balance.
"These ETFs are physically backed and therefore reduce
available stocks and consume fresh supply," it said.
"If the products follow a similar growth trend to the
equivalent gold and silver products when they were first
launched in the United States, then ETP flows are set to become
an expanding feature of the market balance."
(Editing by James Jukwey and Sue Thomas)
