Gold in advance after two days of losses (Reuters) (24-01-2011)

SINGAPORE – Spot gold was firm on Monday, after two days of losses, while holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust rose for the first time in two weeks as some investors enter the market eyeing further price gains.

Spot gold rose by 0.7 percent to $1,351.25 an ounce by 0656 GMT, after dropping to a two-month low of $1,337.5 on Friday and U.S. gold futures gained 0.7 percent to $1,350.2. Speculative net long positions in U.S. gold futures fell to164,993 by Jan 18, from 177,372 a week earlier.

Gold crossed crossed above the 100-day moving average at $1,352.27 earlier while it flows from Hong Kong to mainland China in the first 11 months of 2010 nearly tripled from a year earlier to 107.722 tonnes.

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, jumped 1.6 percent to1, 271.769 tonnes. It was the first rise in about two weeks, and biggest rise in more than seven months.      

Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust, the world's largest physically backed exchange-traded fund, fell 1.3 percent to 10,394.53 tonnes, its lowest since early November while spot silver silver rose by 1.4 percent to $27.85 an ounce, recovering from a three-day losing streak that took the metal to $27.10 on Friday, its lowest since end of November.    

Spot platinum edged down 0.1 percent to $1,821.85 an ounce, up three percent so far this year and spot palladium rose to an intra-day high of $825, just a tab lower than $825.50, its highest since March 2001 hit last week.

Source: Reuters