* Dollar weakness spurs buying
* Vietnam temporarily suspends gold imports
* Investors await FOMC meeting on interest rates
* Australia sees sharper-than-expected drop in gold output
(Updates prices, adds activity in physical market)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Monday as a
weak U.S. dollar spurred buying, but investors were expected to
remain cautious ahead of the await the U.S. Federal Reserve's
interest rates decision this week.
The physical market in Southeast Asia saw selling from
Indonesia due to higher prices, and dealers shrugged off news
that Vietnam has temporarily suspended gold imports due to a
widening trade gap [].
Gold <XAU=> rose to $904.90/905.90 an ounce from
$901.35/902.75 late in New York on Friday.
"From what happened in the past few days, I think it's a
bit of cautious trading. I think everyone is focusing on the
FOMC meeting this week," said Adrian Koh, analyst at Philip
Futures in Singapore.
"I am looking at $905-$910 for a bit of resistance. If we
do move above those levels tonight, we could see higher gold
prices," he said.
Gold jumped to its highest level in more than a week at
$907.90 an ounce on Thursday on firm oil prices before
retreating and remains well below a record high of $1,030.80
hit in mid-March.
The euro inched up to $1.5624 <EUR=> on expectations the
European Central Bank will raise interest rates by a
quarter-percentage point to 4.25 percent in July.
The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday and
Wednesday and is widely expected to leave interest rates at 2
percent, after slashing them by 3.25 percentage points since
September.
Higher crude prices also supported gold. Oil <CLc1> rose 65
cents to $136.01 a barrel as escalating tensions between Israel
and Iran countered the impact of Saudi Arabia's promise to pump
more oil and a vow by Nigerian militants to halt attacks on oil
facilities in the delta.
"There's a bit of short covering but it's not great. I
guess sentiment now is slightly neutral to bullish. $910 is the
nearest resistance but it may be difficult to break for the
time being," said a bullion dealer in Hong Kong.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $3.9 an
ounce to $907.6.
In output news, Australia was set to record a
sharper-than-expected 7 percent drop in gold production in the
year to June as old mines closed and on below par output at
some newer lodes across the outback. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,052.50/2,072.50 an ounce
from $2,048.50/2,068.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
rose to $475.00/480.00 an ounce from $469.50/477.50 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.42/17.48 an ounce from
$17.36/17.43 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for April 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 14 yen
per to 7,004 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0619 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 905.30 4.45 +0.49 8.72
Spot Silver 17.43 0.11 +0.64 18.01
Spot Platinum 2052.50 4.00 +0.20 35.03
Spot Palladium 475.00 5.50 +1.17 29.08
TOCOM Gold 3154.00 1.00 +0.03 3.07
27575
TOCOM Platinum 7006.00 -12.00 -0.17 31.22
19584
TOCOM Silver 609.00 -2.40 -0.39 12.57
551
TOCOM Palladium 1675.00 18.00 +1.09 23.98
1786
Euro/Dollar 1.5585
Dollar/Yen 107.45
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
