* Gold benefits from soft jobs data, stock market swoon
* Gold's gains in two straight weeks first time since June
* Inverted head-and-shoulder could take gold to $1,280/oz
(Recasts, updates prices, comment, changes byline,
dateline, previous LONDON)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Gold climbed on Friday, making
gains for two straight weeks for the first time since June, as
weak U.S. jobs data and signs of an economic slowdown bolstered
the metal's safe-haven appeal.
This week, bullion benefited from higher-than-expected U.S.
jobless claims and the Federal Reserve's downgrade of its
economic outlook. Last Friday, data also showed U.S. private
employers added fewer workers to their payrolls in July than
expected.
Gold was largely rangebound this week after the Fed's
reassessment, but it finally broke out a 1.5 percent rally on
Thursday, its biggest one-day gain in more than two months. Its
alternative-asset appeal also increased due to a stock market
swoon as the S&P 500 was down more than 3 percent this week.
"A lot of people are starting to embrace the fact that gold
had a substantial move above $1,200, solidifying another
possible move to the upside," said Adam Klopfenstein, senior
market strategist at MF Global's unit Lind-Waldock.
"It is going to be very hard to give us a real rationale
why gold should head lower with a lot of slowdown and
uncertainty in the United States," he said.
On Friday, government data showed U.S. retail sales
rebounded in July but showed hints of lingering economic
softness.[]
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,213.90 an ounce at 1:55 p.m. EDT
(1755 GMT), against $1,211.20 late in New York on Thursday.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> settled 10 cents
lower at $1,216.60.
On Friday, the metal has struggled to build on gains that
pushed it to a one-month high at $1,217.35 in earlier trade. A
raft of U.S. data released on Friday, including retail sales,
consumer prices and consumer confidence numbers, put a damper
on gold's rise.
Higher energy costs did boost U.S. consumer prices by 0.3
percent, the first rise in four months. But prices outside food
and energy climbed just 0.1 percent, leaving the year-on-year
gain, a measure favored by the Fed, at just 0.9 percent for a
fourth consecutive month.
Analysts said the slightly higher-than-expected CPI
initially pressured gold prices due to the increasing
likelihood to hike interest rates in the long run.
"The market showed a very muted reaction to CPI and retail
sales numbers," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
"The market is well supported, but at the moment momentum
is slowing," he added. "For an immediate push, you will need
some more negative macro news or statements... (to spark)
another flight to safety."
Gold held firm as the U.S. dollar rose and headed for its
strongest weekly performance in almost two years against a
basket of currencies. []
The correlation between gold and the U.S. currency has been
erratic so far this year, as the metal and the dollar both
benefited from safe-haven demand due to fears about global
growth at times.
INVERTED HEAD-AND-SHOULDER FORMING?
On technical charts, gold looked bullish after the December
contract closed above key resistance at its 50-day moving
average at around $1,214 an ounce on Thursday.
Gold prices could rally to its "shoulder" at a record high
$1,280 an ounce, driven by a bullish inverted head-and-shoulder
pattern, said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at
investment banking group Execution Noble.
Bensignor said the bullish chart pattern, which is still
being formed, suggested prices might pull back toward its
"head" at around $1,180-1,190 before the rally to its
shoulder.
(Graphic: http://link.reuters.com/nac94n)
Investment demand for physically backed gold
exchange-traded funds picked up. Holdings of the largest, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, climbed by nearly 1 tonne on Thursday
after rising more than 3 tonnes a day before, its biggest
one-day inflow since June 29. []
Silver <XAG=> was at $18.10 an ounce versus $18.02.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,519.50 an ounce versus $1,525.50
and palladium <XPD=> at $475 against $467.
Prices at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCZ0> 1216.60 -0.10 0.0% 11.0%
US silver <SIU0> 18.109 0.044 0.0% 7.5%
US platinum <PLV0> 1526.20 -5.40 -0.4% 3.8%
US palladium <PAU0> 477.25 6.20 1.3% 16.7%
Gold <XAU=> 1213.70 2.50 0.2% 10.7%
Silver <XAG=> 18.10 0.08 0.4% 7.5%
Platinum <XPT=> 1519.50 -6.00 -0.4% 3.7%
Palladium <XPD=> 475.00 8.00 1.7% 17.1%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1214.25 -0.75 -0.1% 10.0%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 18.06 14.00 0.8% 6.3%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1527.00 11.00 0.7% 4.2%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 473.00 2.00 0.4% 17.7%
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London; editing by
Sofina Mirza-Reid)
