Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gold steady on weak U.S. data, Europe debt concerns



(Reuters) - Spot gold was steady on Monday, as the dimmed outlook for the U.S. economy and persistent worries about euro zone nations' debt problem supported sentiment.


FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold edged down 0.1 percent to $1,542.01 an ounce by 0022 GMT, after rising 3.9 percent last week, its best since November 2009.

* U.S. gold was little changed at $1,542.80.

* Spot gold hit a two-week high of $1,544.14 earlier in the day, as sentiment continued to be encouraged by sluggish U.S. payrolls data on Friday that dampened hopes that the world's largest economy would recover quickly from a slowdown in the first half of the year.

* U.S. President Barack Obama met with leaders of both parties, seeking to break an impasse with Republicans on deficit reduction and avert a potentially catastrophic debt default.

* European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has called an emergency meeting of top officials dealing with the euro zone debt crisis for Monday morning, reflecting concern that the crisis could spread to Italy, the region's third largest economy.

* China's annual inflation accelerated to a three-year high in June, increasing the chances that the central bank will keep raising interest rates to tame price pressures that are spreading beyond food and energy.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click <TOP/MTL>, <TOP/MACRO> or <GOL/>


MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks fell on Friday as a weak jobs report dashed optimism that the economy was emerging from a soft patch, leaving investors to hope earnings season would revive an appetite for buying. .N

* The euro fell to fresh two-week lows versus the Swiss franc and U.S. dollar in Asia on Monday in the lead-up to the emergency meeting among European leaders.<USD/>

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