* Merkel’s support of Draghi eases worry on euro zone debt
crisis
* Spot gold neutral in $1,589.69-$1,626.06/oz -technicals
* Coming up: U.S. CFTC commitment of traders, weekly; 1930
GMT
(Adds details, comments; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Gold traded nearly flat on
Friday, holding on to gains in the previous session from its
biggest daily rise in two weeks on German Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s support for more action by the European Central Bank to
contain the bloc’s debt crisis.
Investors have been waiting for bold moves by the ECB after
President Mario Draghi said last month the bank would do
everything in its power to hold the euro zone together, although
a subsequent ECB meeting yielded little concrete.
Merkel’s support for Draghi injected confidence into the
market that European leaders may eventually come up with a
solution to the crisis, now in its third year, and spurred
investors to riskier assets.
Gold’s fate largely hinges on central bank attitudes towards
further monetary easing, especially as physical demand slumped
globally, led by top consumers India and China.
“The market is still moving on changing expectations of
central bank actions, and is so far unwilling to push prices out
of the $1,590 to $1,630 range,” said Nick Trevethan, senior
commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore.
The seesawing pattern is likely to extend to at least the
end of August, when comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke at the Fed symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming may
shed light on the central bank’s next easing move, he added.
Spot gold traded little changed at $1,614.69 an ounce
by 0310 GMT, on course for a weekly loss of 0.3 percent, despite
posting in the previous session its biggest one-day gain in two
weeks, at 0.7 percent.
The U.S. gold futures contract for December delivery
inched down 0.1 percent to $1,617.20.
Recent U.S. data continued to show a mixed picture of the
economy. A trend measure of Americans signing up for new jobless
benefits fell close to a four-year low last week, but weakness
in a regional factory gauge showed the U.S. recovery still faces
an uphill climb.
GOLD-PLATINUM PREMIUM SHRINKS
Gold’s premium over platinum fell to below $172 an ounce,
its lowest in nearly a month, after platinum prices jumped on
the bloodshed in Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in South
Africa.
Spot platinum gained half a percent to $1,441.62,
after rising more than 3 percent in the previous session. The
metal, mainly used to produce jewellery and autocatalysts, was
headed for a weekly rise of 3 percent, the most in two months.
In industry news, Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s
top gold miner, is in talks to sell all or part of its stake in
its African arm to China Gold Group Corp, China’s top gold
producer.
Precious metals prices 0310 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1614.69 0.39 +0.02 3.25
Spot Silver 28.16 -0.02 -0.07 1.70
Spot Platinum 1441.62 7.12 +0.50 3.49
Spot Palladium 584.97 5.77 +1.00 -10.35
COMEX GOLD DEC2 1617.20 -2.00 -0.12 3.22 4425
COMEX SILVER SEP2 28.12 -0.09 -0.33 0.73 1007
Euro/Dollar 1.2351
Dollar/Yen 79.35
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
