UPDATE 2-Gold bounces on bargain hunting, off 4-month low
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, May 5 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded on Monday as bargain hunters snapped up bullion after a fall to a four-month low last week, but trading was thin in the absence of Japanese speculators.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $863.20/864.45 an ounce from $855.80/857.00 an ounce late in New York on Friday, when it tumbled to $845 an ounce, its lowest since Jan. 2, after the dollar jumped on better-than-expected U.S. jobs data.
It has lost more than 16 percent in value since spiking to a record high of $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17. Tokyo precious metal futures markets are closed on Monday and Tuesday for public holidays.
"I think given that we have a relatively strong rally in oil, we're certainly finding some good support," said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in Sydney.
"I think the current resistance will be around $868. I guess that recent lows around $845 are probably going to support," said Heathcote, adding that gold was consolidating after the recent drop.
Oil CLc1 barely moved around $116 a barrel on Monday, pausing after jumping more than 3 percent last week on further supply disruptions in Nigeria and tensions between Iran and the West. [ID:nSYD148370]
The euro inched up to 1.5460 <EUR=> but was well off April's record highs around $1.6018. The dollar firmed on Friday after U.S. payrolls fell by a surprisingly small 20,000 in April, while the jobless rate actually dipped to 5.0 percent.
Gold futures for June delivery GCM8 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $7.0 an ounce to $865.0 an ounce.
"Some people are bidding up the futures market and that's pushed up spot prices. But the market is really quiet with the Japanese on holiday," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"We'd probably trade in the $860 to $870 range today."
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,897/1,907 an ounce from $1,861/1,881 late in New York.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $16.61/16.68 an ounce from $16.32/16.38 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $411/419 an ounce from $410/418 late in New York. Precious metals prices at 0347 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 863.05 7.60 +0.89 3.64 Spot Silver 16.61 0.25 +1.53 12.46 Spot Platinum 1887.00 -4.00 -0.21 24.14 Spot Palladium 411.50 -2.00 -0.48 11.82 TOCOM Gold 2907.00 -24.00 -0.82 -5.00 66059 TOCOM Platinum 6035.00 -176.00 -2.83 13.04 31700 TOCOM Silver 553.00 -11.30 -2.00 2.22 1648 TOCOM Palladium 1393.00 -25.00 -1.76 3.11 2780 Euro/Dollar 1.5472 Dollar/Yen 105.21 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Ben Tan)
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