RTRS:PRECIOUS-Gold stages comeback with aid of weak dollar
* Spot, US gold snap 4 sessions of losses
* Spot gold may fall to $1,534.49 - technicals
* Coming up: U.S. consumer confidence, September; 1400 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Spot gold rallied more than 1
percent and U.S. gold futures as much as 4 percent on Tuesday,
snapping four consecutive sessions of losses as a weaker dollar
helped battered commodities stage a comeback.
Euro-zone officials are working to magnify the firepower of
the region's rescue fund, European Central Bank policymakers
said on Monday, boosting hopes the region will be able to
staunch a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the world
economy.
The news pushed the dollar down 0.5 percent against a
currency basket , making gold cheaper for holders of other
currencies.
Spot gold gained 1.5 percent to $1,651 an ounce by
0708 GMT, after sinking as much as 7 percent to a 7-1/2-month
low near $1,530 on Monday.
U.S. gold GCcv1 rose 3.7 percent to $1,653, headed for its
biggest one-day rise since March 2009.
"In the last couple of days the market over-reacted to the
situation in the euro zone and the U.S.," said Cameron
Alexander, senior metals analyst at GFMS, a unit of Thomson
Reuters.
Gold's appeal as a safe-haven asset remains intact given the
uncertainty in global growth and concerns about Europe's
sovereign debt, and strong investment demand is likely to push
gold towards $2,000 by the end of the year, said Alexander.
Technical indicators suggested gold could see more
short-term weakness. Spot gold may fall back to Monday's
intraday low of $1,534.49 later in the day, said Reuters market
analyst Wang Tao, who is looking for even larger falls in the
long term.
Investors are eyeing a key vote in the German parliament on
Thursday to approve changes to the European Financial Stability
Facility rescue fund.
"There may be another leg lower in gold, as people position
themselves ahead of the EFSF votes in case there was a good
outcome that would lead to a sell-off in the dollar and rising
risk appetite," said a Singapore-based trader.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust , fell 0.4 percent to 1,246.762
tonnes by Sept. 26, after standing unchanged for four sessions.
Physical buying has increased over the past week or so, as
spot gold prices sank nearly 10 percent in the past four
sessions.
"At the current level people are buying, because they
believed what happened in the past few days was only a
correction," said Ronald Leung, a physical dealer at Lee Cheong
Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
The premium on gold bars in Hong Kong had risen to more than
$2 per ounce above spot prices, as a result of increased demand,
he added.
Other precious metals also rebounded from Monday's trough.
Spot silver rallied 3.8 percent to $31.81, before easing
slightly to $31.46.
U.S. silver SIcv1 jumped as much as 6.4 percent to a high
of $31.88, and remains on course for its biggest one-day rise in
two and a half months.
Precious metals prices 0708 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1651.00 24.15 +1.48 16.31
Spot Silver 31.46 0.80 +2.61 1.94
Spot Platinum 1566.24 11.11 +0.71 -11.39
Spot Palladium 636.99 9.76 +1.56 -20.33
TOCOM Gold 4073.00 196.00 +5.06 9.22 130900
TOCOM Platinum 3868.00 151.00 +4.06 -17.63 21439
TOCOM Silver 76.70 7.80 +11.32 -5.31 3174
TOCOM Palladium 1590.00 75.00 +4.95 -24.18 979
COMEX GOLD DEC1 1653.00 58.20 +3.65 16.29 45875
COMEX SILVER DEC1 31.53 1.55 +5.17 1.89 7288
Euro/Dollar 1.3539
Dollar/Yen 76.35
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months