Gold steady, euro-priced bullion hits record

SINGAPORE: Spot gold was steady on Monday, as the dimmed outlook for the US economy and persistent worries about euro zone nations' debt problem supported sentiment.

The weaker-than-expected payrolls data last Friday dampened hopes that the US economy would bounce quickly from a slowdown in the first half of the year, helping gold stage a 3.9-percent weekly rise, its best week since November 2009.

A spate of data from the United States, including trade, retail sales, industrial production and consumer price index, is expected this week.

"If we see something that confirms further the weakness of US economy we may see gold benefit from that," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.

Spot gold rose to a 2-1/2-week high of $1,546.69, before easing to $1,544.74 an ounce by 0642 GMT.

US gold edged up 0.3 percent at $1,545.40.

Ongoing worries about euro zone nations' sovereign debt and uncertainties around the debt ceiling talks at the US Congress also helped boost gold's safe-haven appeal.

President Barack Obama and Republican leaders failed on Sunday to mend rifts over tax increases and social spending cuts in talks aimed at cutting the US budget deficit and averting a debt default.

Technical analysis suggested that gold may rise towards $1,557.75 in the short term, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

EURO GOLD HITS RECORD HIGH

Euro-priced gold rose to an all-time high of 1,090.49 euros an ounce earlier in the day, buoyed by safe-haven buying as Europe's debt crisis continued to unnerve investors.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has called an emergency meeting of top officials dealing with the euro zone debt crisis for Monday morning, reflecting concern that the crisis could spread to Italy, the region's third largest economy.

"If we start to see more pressure on Italy, such as talk of debt default, gold will look to test the previous high," said Heathcote of Investec.

Gold rose to an all-time high of $1,575.79 on May 2.

On the physical market, buyers have moved to the sidelines after prices advanced nearly $60 in the previous week while scrap sales trickled in, dealers said.

"We've seen some scrap selling but in small amount," said a Singapore-based dealer, adding that scrap sellers are eyeing $1,550 level to start selling in larger volume.

"We don't see much buying at current price level."

Physical demand is low during summer months when India, the world's largest gold consumer, goes through the monsoon season during which farmers are busy sowing and gold sales slow.

Rural areas account for about 70 percent of India's annual gold consumption.

Spot silver lost 0.4 percent to $36.50 an ounce, off the one-month high of $36.82 reached last Friday. US silver was little changed at $36.54.

Copyright Reuters, 2011