By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Gold rose 1 percent to around
$950 per ounce on Monday, as stock market falls on financial
sector woes and persistent views that the global economy would
stay gloomy polished up the yellow metal's lure as a safe-haven
asset.
A U.S. jobs report due later this week is expected to show
the world's largest economy shed 648,000 jobs in February,
which would probably prove another drag on conventional assets.
Friday's data showing U.S. gross domestic product shrank
6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the worst since 1982,
sparked a buying spree in gold, albeit briefly.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $949.70 per ounce by 0321 GMT, up 1
percent from its notional close on Friday.
On Friday, a volatile stock market and end-month position
adjustments helped send the precious metal to a two-week low of
$926.75, a retreat of almost 8 percent from an 11-month high
above $1,000 on Feb. 20.
Despite another sell-off in stocks in Asia on Monday,
further selling in bullion is unlikely for now, said Shuji
Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities'
research team.
"That's because an initial correction from the high above
$1,000 hit two weeks ago is over when gold touched the low in
New York," Sugata said.
"In addition, weak stocks, gloomy data and instability in
the financial sector are all in favour of gold. The most
important, I think, is data, including Friday's U.S. jobs
report. Since no strong numbers are expected, investors are now
factoring in worsening data," he said.
Japan's Nikkei stock average <> slid 3.2 percent on
Monday, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> and other
banks sinking on fears about their U.S. peers, while exporters
fell on worry about the U.S. economy. []
The U.S. government threw a new $30-billion lifeline to
American International Group <AIG.N> on Sunday as the embattled
insurer prepared to report the biggest quarterly loss in
corporate history. []
But any price gains in gold would be limited unless strong
inflows resume into gold-backed exchange-traded funds, analysts
said.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings remained at a record
1,029.29 tonnes as of Feb. 27, unchanged from Feb. 26.
Aother sign of a halt in money inflows to the gold market
came from data showing that speculative players reduced their
net long positions to 161,865 lots on gold futures in New York
at Feb. 24, down 2.4 percent from a week earlier.
[]
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ9> rose $9.3 or 1
percent to $951.8 an ounce in electronic trade on Monday. The
contract settled Friday down 10 cents on the COMEX division of
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Precious metals prices at 0315 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 949.60 9.70 +1.03 49.38
Spot Silver 13.21 0.16 +1.23 2.80
Spot Platinum 1085.00 14.00 +1.31 -4.15
Spot Palladium 195.00 1.50 +0.78 -41.27
TOCOM Gold 2989.00 12.00 +0.40 22.25
20462
TOCOM Platinum 3400.00 90.00 +2.72 -20.08
7066
TOCOM Silver 409.60 0.40 +0.10 -16.97
186
TOCOM Palladium 626.00 12.00 +1.95 -50.12
94
Euro/Dollar 1.2577
Dollar/Yen 97.52
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
prices in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa)
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
