Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Spot gold holds steady after two consecutive days' gains

Spot gold held steady on Wednesday after two consecutive sessions of gains, as investors stood on sidelines of a market with no clear trend for the short term, and technical resistance is seen around $1,375.

Inflation concerns continued to flare up, as China reported elevated, albeit weaker-than-expected, consumer price index data for January, and inflation in Britain jumped to twice the Bank of England's target in January.

Rising price pressure has stoked fears that central banks might turn increasingly hawkish on interest rates, which could hurt sentiment in gold.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,373.65 an ounce by 0430 GMT. It hit a four-week high of $1,376.50 on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures edged up 10 cents to $1,374.20.

"We are seeing inflation rise globally," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia, "The bullish trend is intact, although we'll see periods of weakness."

Technical analysis showed that spot gold is expected to rise into the $1,385-$1,390 range, as an uptrend has been established while the contract climbs within a rising channel, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

If gold could stand firmly above the key resistance level around $1,375, it could move towards $1,400, traders said.

"It's been quite a bounce, but there is some technical resistance right around here and we've seen a bit selling to take profit," said a Singapore-based trader.

"I do think the story is intact. Just right now, it's not particularly compelling."

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, slipped to 1,224.008 tonnes by Feb 15, its lowest since May last year.

The unfolding political drama in Middle East nations continued to attract attention of global investors. The situation, if deteriorated, could drive investors to seek safe-haven in gold.

But some market players said the influence on gold market might be insignificant.

Spot palladium was steady at $834.72 an ounce, after touching a ten-year high of $847 in the previous session.

Spot silver edged down 0.2 percent at $30.71.

The gold-silver ratio, used to measure how many ounces of silver is needed to buy an ounce of gold, rebounded from a five-year low of 44.47 hit on Feb 14, to 44.72.
soucer:http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=120717&sn=Detail

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