Gold bounces on bargain hunting

SINGAPORE (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 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 January 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 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.

The euro inched up to 1.5460 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 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 rose to $1,897/1,907 an ounce from $1,861/1,881 late in New York.

Silver edged up to $16.61/16.68 an ounce from $16.32/16.38 an ounce. Spot palladium 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)