Singapore (Platts)--29Aug2007

The spot gold price on Thursday rebounded in morning trade in Hong Kong.
Gold opened at $665.90-666.40/oz, up from $663.60-664.10/oz at the end of the
afternoon trading session on Wednesday.
     "[US Federal Reserve Chairman] Bernanke hinted the intention to lower the
US interest rate and this gave confidence to the market. The US stock market
saw a rebound during the New York trading session on Wednesday and gold also
benefited from it," one trader said.  
     The New York Dow Jones Industrials index closed 247.44 higher at
13,289.29 on gains in the technology and energy sectors and the NASDAQ
Composite Index closed 2.50% higher at 2,563.16.
     "US players remained glued to the stock market and ever ready to react to
its movement. They are not paying much attention on the US dollar and oil
price currently," he said.
     The US dollar rose in early trade on Wednesday as worries about the US
credit markets faded. In New York, the US dollar opened higher at Yen 114.86
from Yen 114.54 at Tuesday's close while the euro fell to $1.3619 from
$1.3629. The US dollar then rose further against the yen on renewed carry
trade buying amidst a strong rebound in US stocks. At the close, the US dollar
stood at Yen 115.47 and $1.3657 per euro. Meanwhile, October crude oil closed
$1.78 higher at $73.51/bbl on falling inventory.
     "Spot gold in the Asia morning inherited the firmer level from US trade
but the market remained fairly quiet amid thin trade. Despite the rise,
the gold price appeared to remain rangebound. There is a general lack of
direction. It seemed to be capped at $670/oz on profit-taking activities," he
added. 
     Another trader said spot gold might test support at $661/oz where a
breach would shift focus to $656/oz and selling could be considered on upticks
towards $672/oz with stops at $676/oz.
     Some key economic indicators due later Thursday include Q2 US GDP, Q2 US
implicit deflator, Q2 US personal consumption expenditure and US jobless
claims for the week ended August 25.
     Meanwhile, gold futures (standard contract of 1 kg) trading on the Tokyo
Commodity Exchange tracked the rebound in gold and gained Yen 31-35/g (27-30
cents/g) for the October 2007-August 2008 contracts at the end of the
Thursday morning session, settling at Yen 2,483-2,503/g. Turnover totaled
37,571 contracts Thursday, down from 41,433 contracts Wednesday, indicating a
less active trading session in the morning. 
     The mini contracts (100 g gold bars) on TOCOM for the October
2007-February 2008 period rose Yen 30-32/g, settling at Yen 2,481-2,488/g.
Turnover totaled 1,187 contracts Thursday, compared with 1,920 contracts
Wednesday.