LONDON: Gold bounced back above $1,840 an ounce on Thursday as the last session's dramatic 3 per cent price slide tempted physical bullion buyers back to the market, with concerns over euro zone debt and the US economy firmly underpinning interest. Financial markets are keenly awaiting key speeches on the US economy from President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later, and the outcome of the latest policy meeting of the European Central Bank. Gold has had a choppy week, hitting a record high above $1,920 on Tuesday before correcting more than $120 an ounce to the week's lows in the next session. Physical gold purchases rose after prices eased below $1,800 on Wednesday, dealers said. Physical demand is expected to rise ahead of India's wedding season and as concern over the economic outlook brightens gold's appeal as a haven. "In the medium term to long term, it's pretty clear that the bullish trend hasn't been tarnished a bit," said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst at Richcomm Global Services. "We take yesterday's slide as correction which is good for the overall bullish market."Spot gold was up 1 per cent at $1,833.90 an ounce at 0907 GMT. Prices have been volatile in recent weeks. Libya's central bank, now under the control of the country's new leaders, said on Thursday it had sold 29 tonnes of gold to pay salaries. Its central bank later said the gold had been disposed of in April or May to merchants within the country. The markets are weighing up the prospect of further quantitative easing -- or money printing -- in the United States. A raft of soft US data has led to speculation the US authorities may feel the need to stimulate sluggish growth.

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