Gold Rises on DemandGold Rises on Demand
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Gold Rises on Demand From Japanese Speculators, Asian Jewelers
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose for the first day in three on demand from Japanese speculators and Asian jewelers, who assessed that bullion was cheap following declines this week.
Gold fell 2.1 percent yesterday, the most since Dec. 20, after hedge funds and speculators decided to lock in gains from prices that had risen to a 25-year high of $564.30 an ounce on Jan. 17. Asia is the biggest buyer of gold jewelry.
``The bull run is still in place,'' said Amit Juneja, head of precious metals in Asia at Commerzbank AG. ``Demand from jewelers is back. They're looking to pick the lows, to find ways to buy and stock up again'' after holding back in the past few months, he said by phone from Singapore.
Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $4.05, or 0.8 percent, to $547 an ounce. It traded at $546.90 at 10:09 a.m. Singapore time.
Buying from Japanese speculators, possibly because of a rebound in Japanese equity markets, helped lift gold prices, said Commerzbank's Juneja.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average yesterday fell 2.9 percent after the investigation of Livedoor Co., a local Internet company. The declines led Japanese investors and speculators to sell gold to cover their losses in the stock market, N.M. Rothschild and Sons (Australia) said in a report e-mailed today.
Gold for delivery in December 2006 rose 10 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 2,059 yen a gram, or 64,035 yen ($555) an ounce, on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 10:22 a.m. local time.
Gold for delivery in February rose as much as $3.30, or 0.6 percent, to $547.80 an ounce in after-hours trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chia-Peck Wong in Singapore at cpwong@bloomberg.net;