* Gold falls further, awaits Friday's payrolls data
* For the technical outlook on gold; click on
[]
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly jobless claims; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 3 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday as it
consolidated after rising to a two-week high earlier this week,
extending losses from the previous session when strong U.S.
home sales data ignited selling by speculators.
However, an increase in ETF holdings to another record
suggested demand from investors remained firm.
Investors awaited the release of U.S. payrolls data on
Friday, which is expected to show 513,000 jobs were added to
the economy in May -- a fifth straight month of gains. This
could potentially boost the dollar and weaken bullion's
safe-haven appeal. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,222.65 an ounce by 0520 GMT,
down $1.65 from New York's notional close on Wednesday and
lower than this week's peak around $1,230. Gold hit a record of
$1,248.95 in mid-May on fears the euro zone credit problems
were spreading.
For a graphic showing the gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20100306090842.jpg
Strong payrolls data could encourage the United States to
follow Canada's move to raise interest rates, which could weigh
on gold, said Wong Eng Soon, investment analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.
"Usually, when there's a tightening effect, you see
commodities coming down. If the U.S. is going to raise rates,
you'll see the dollar strengthening. You may see people prefer
to hold on to the dollar rather than gold."
The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate on Tuesday,
the first G7 industrialised economy to do so after the global
recession, but said the European debt crisis made its next move
highly unpredictable. []
But dealers said a rise in holdings of the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, to
another record at 1,268.539 tonnes showed European funds were
losing faith in the euro and buying bullion. []
The euro <EUR=> inched up to $1.2285 on Thursday, having
bounced from a four-year low of $1.2110 on Tuesday, but the
single currency was sensitive to any signs the euro zone
sovereign debt crisis might spread to the banking system.
[]
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> added $2.0 an
ounce to $1,224.6. The contract slipped on Wednesday after U.S.
pending home sales data, which rose 6.0 percent in April to a
six-month high, gave speculators who bought gold as a hedge
against economic downturn reason to sell. []
"I don't think they will raise the interest rates now
because the U.S. dollar is already strong. It's a very choppy
market. There's some profit taking but there are also people
who tried to push the gold price up," said a bullion dealer in
Hong Kong.
"I think we need some news to push up gold, otherwise we'll
get stuck in a range of $1,200 to $1,225."
China produced 28.870 tonnes of gold in April, the Ministry
of Industry and Information Technology said on its website on
Thursday. The total output for the first four months of the
year was 99.031 tonnes, up 5.58 percent over the same months of
2009. []
In other markets, the Nikkei average rose more than 3
percent on Thursday following a rally on Wall Street while U.S.
crude oil firmed for a second day to near $74 a barrel after
U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week. []
[]
Precious metals prices at 0520 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1222.65 -1.65 -0.13 11.59
Spot Silver 18.36 -0.01 -0.05 9.09
Spot Platinum 1559.25 14.25 +0.92 6.29
Spot Palladium 455.95 1.45 +0.32 12.44
TOCOM Gold 3638.00 27.00 +0.75 11.63
32045
TOCOM Platinum 4653.00 100.00 +2.20 6.21
14840
TOCOM Silver 54.90 0.30 +0.55 6.19
347
TOCOM Palladium 1364.00 18.00 +1.34 17.08
269
Euro/Dollar 1.2301
Dollar/Yen 92.28
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
