LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Gold hit a near 4-week high on
Monday as fears the prospect of a global flu pandemic could
hinder any economic recovery boosted interest in the metal as a
haven.
The news added to the boost gold received late last week
from expectations China will continue to boost its reserves of
the metal, after the country said its gold reserves had risen.
PRICES
* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $914.10 at 0631 GMT compared with
$911.10 late in New York on Friday.
* Silver <XAG=> was at $13.03 from $12.84.
* Platinum <XPT=> at $1,166.50 from $1,173.50.
* Palladium <XPD=> at $229 from $231.
DATA/EVENTS
* EU economic and monetary affairs committee meets, Brussels.
* Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas releases its Texas
Manufacturing index for April, 1430 GMT.
* Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its Chicago Fed
Midwest Manufacturing Index for March, 1600 GMT.
* MMTA International Minor Metals conference begins,
Istanbul.
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MARKET NEWS
* The yen and the dollar rose on Monday and the Mexican peso
fell on concern about the spread of swine flu, which has killed
103 people in Mexico and infected people in the United States
and Canada. []
* Oil prices fell over 2 percent towards $50 a barrel on
Monday, paring some of the previous session's near 4 percent
gain on fears of a global flu pandemic that could give the world
economy another knock. []
* Asian stocks slipped on Monday as the outbreak of swine
flu in North and Central America hurt shares of airlines and
transport companies while prompting some market players to trim
risky positions, hitting currencies like the Australian dollar.
[]
* Fears that any green shoots in the global economy could be
trampled by a deadly outbreak of swine flu put Asian markets on
edge on Monday, after world policymakers said over the weekend
that a recovery could begin later this year but plenty of
downside risk remained. []
FUNDAMENTALS
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings remained unchanged at
1,104.45 tonnes as of April 26 from the previous day. []
TECHNICALS
* Gold support $900, resistance $918, RSI 14 at 68.2.
* Silver support $12.37, resistance $13.08, RSI 14 68.0.
* Platinum support $1,164, resistance $1,200, RSI 14 45.6.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
