Gold strengthened on Monday after jewellers resurfaced at lower levels, while strong equities lifted platinum group metals despite a lack of buying interest from automakers. Spot gold added $1.75 to $1,183.25 by 0553 GMT after hitting a low of $1,179.20 an ounce. Despite the gain, bullion was still around 6 percent below a lifetime high of $1,264.90 struck in June.
"We can say that physical buying at the lower end in the Asian region absorbs selling from the ETF. There's more interest over there at $1,170 or below," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "Gold has recovered due to some kind of technical buying. But I think the market is still thin. Both investors and jewellery makers have been buying at the lower end."
US gold futures for December delivery rose $1.5 to $1,185.4 an ounce after settling up 1.1 percent. Gold had risen after data showed US economic growth slowed in the second quarter, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said holdings were unchanged at 1,282.279 tonnes, having dropped more than 18 tonnes in late July. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. Platinum rose to its strongest since late June on fund buying driven by gains in stock markets and industrial metals such as LME copper. Sister metal palladium matched a five-week high hit on Friday.
Platinum and palladium are used by the auto industry in catalytic converters to clean tailpipe emissions. "We could see a little bit of demand from the industrial side for palladium last week but things have slowed down because the price is near $500. The industrial side is just checking for prices," said a physical dealer in Tokyo.