Gold traded little changed in Asia above $900 an ounce after rising on demand for the precious metal as a haven amid a decline in equities and the dollar. Asian shares fell on news Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Nipponkoa Insurance Co. would merge. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency’s performance against those of six major U.S. trading partners, dropped for a third day. “Gold in the next few days will continue to seek direction from the equities markets and the dollar,” Pan Jinghua, an analyst at Shanghai Jinpeng International Futures Co., said today. Gold for immediate delivery rose 0.1 percent to $910.05 an ounce at 10:45 a.m. in Singapore, after gaining the most in a week yesterday as the dollar weakened. The dollar was little changed against the euro ahead of a German report today that economists say will show industrial production fell for a fifth month. It fell against the yen after a government report showed Japan’s economy shrank less than analysts expected, easing concern the recession will worsen. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest such fund backed by bullion, advanced 0.9 percent to a record 1,038.17 metric tons yesterday, according to figures on the company’s Web site. The fund’s holdings are just behind the 1,040.1 tons held by Switzerland, the sixth-largest stockpile. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver was little changed at $12.8112 an ounce, palladium added 0.5 percent to $198.50 an ounce, and platinum slid 0.3 percent to $1,049.50 an ounce. Technical Analysis A “head and shoulders” pattern is forming in gold, indicating possible further gains, if prices hold above $889 an ounce, according to technical analysis by Fortis Bank in Asia Pacific. A so-called head and shoulders pattern is typically regarded as a reversal pattern. Gold won’t “break the downside until this $889 neckline is clearly penetrated and closes below it”, Wallace Ng, chief precious metals dealer at Fortis’ commodity derivatives unit, said from Hong Kong today. A neckline is a level found on a head and shoulders pattern that is used by traders to determine strategic areas to place orders. A move below the neckline is seen as a signal of a reversal of the current uptrend. “I would expect the market hold well above this neckline and we will see a good rebound to $940 to $950 in the coming two days,” said Ng. April-delivery gold stood little changed at $910.10 an ounce in after-hours trading on the Comex Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained as much as 2 percent to $913.80 an ounce yesterday, the most in a week.

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