PRECIOUS-Gold rebounds after heavy loss; Asia rushes to buy
06/02/2012 at 04:24
* Asian buyers scoop up gold after prices drop * Spot gold could rebound to $1,742/oz -technicals * Coming up: Germany industrial orders, Dec; 1100 GMT Adds details; updates details By Rujun Shen SINGAPORE, Feb 6 Reuters - Spot gold rebounded on Monday as Asian buyers rushed to snatch bargains after a nearly 2-percent drop in the previous session, while uncertainty ahead of a deadline for Greece to accept the terms of a new bailout deal also supported pricesSurprisingly strong U.S. jobs data on Friday boosted equities and industrial metals, but bullion recorded its biggest daily fall in more than a month as the data dampened hopes of fresh quantitative easing measures
Analysts and traders, however, remain positive on the outlook for gold as a murky global economic outlook amid a festering euro zone debt crisis is expected to prompt central banks to keep their monetary policies accommodative
"The QE3 third round of quantitative easing is less likely after the jobs data, but the longer-term low interest rate outlook is still potentially supportive of gold," said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist of ANZ in Singapore
Spot gold
Technical analysis suggested spot gold could rise to $1,742 an ounce, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said
< Gold 24-hour gold technical outlook: Graphic - CFTC commitment of traders: > Bargain hunting from Asian buyers, especially from China, also helped the rebound in gold, traders said
"There has been quite a lot of buying since Shanghai opened, as gold was 30 bucks cheaper than they last saw it," said a U.S.-based trader
"We will be supported around $1,730 in the next few hours, although when Europe comes in it would be an entirely different picture." Greece is facing a deadline later today on whether to accept the painful terms of a new bailout to avoid a chaotic default. Money managers, including hedge funds and other large speculators, increased their net length in U.S. gold futures and options last week to its highest since late November, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed
Strong demand from China as well as India will likely continue buoying sentiment in bullion, said Trevethan of ANZ
China, the world's largest gold producer, churned out a record of 360.95 tonnes of gold in 2011, which pushes the annual consumption to at least 800 tonnes based on calculations factoring the gold flow from Hong Kong to the mainland in the first 11 months of the year
Precious metals prices 0614 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1733.75 7.95 +0.46 10.87 Spot Silver 33.57 -0.02 -0.06 21.24 Spot Platinum 1613.99 -3.51 -0.22 15.86 Spot Palladium 701.00 -4.00 -0.57 7.43 COMEX GOLD APR2 1736.40 -3.90 -0.22 10.82 18823 COMEX SILVER MAR2 33.59 -0.16 -0.49 20.31 2380 Euro/Dollar 1.3082 Dollar/Yen 76.74 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months Editing by Himani Sarkar rujun.shen@thomsonreuters.com+65-6870-3726Reuters Messaging: rujun.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit * BridgeStation : view story .134 * Reuters Plus : from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit Reuters Terminal users can see related news and prices by double clicking on the codes in brackets: - All precious metals headlines - Precious metals market reports - Daily fixing headlines - Indian gold reports - European gold prices - London interbank gold forward rates