LONDON - Gold


Climbed above $1,100 (U.S.) an ounce in Europe on Monday as the U.S. dollar eased broadly, while renewed physical and safe-haven buying also helped support prices.

Gold was bid at $1,103 an ounce by 1100 GMT, against $1,091.65 an ounce on Friday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery were at $1,103.7 per ounce, up 1.3 per cent.

"They are recovering a bit," said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank. "The slump of the last week might be considered by some bargain hunters as being an excessive one.

"Some see in gold protection going forward, if the correction on equity markets continues ... but also there is some physical buying at the current levels after the strong decreases."

India, historically the world's top gold consumer, continued buying, with limited quantities changing hands below the $1,100 an ounce level, dealers said.

Also supporting bullion was a decline in the dollar against the euro and other higher-yielding currencies, as some investors took profits on the U.S. currency's broad gains last week.

Reports that embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was edging closer to winning confirmation to serve a second term also calmed markets, tarnishing the dollar's safe-haven appeal, after his prospects were seen to be shaky last week.

On Friday, gold hit a near five-week low at $1,081.90, bringing its losses for the week to over 3 per cent, after U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal to limit financial risk-taking hit the broader commodities markets.

Mr. Obama's plans to restrict banks or financial institutions from associating with a hedge fund or a private equity fund, which was unveiled on Thursday, caused stocks and commodities to tumble.

"The noose certainly seems to be tightening around the gold bulls with President Barack Obama's proposal to limit financial risk-taking, especially by the banking sector and also due to the growing expectations that China will continue to tighten its monetary stance," said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst and trader at Richcomm Global Services.

"The markets will continue to be volatile as the month ends, but the technical damage done in Friday's session hints that we have further downside targets in gold at the moment," he added.

There are signs that China, the world's largest gold producer, could move to tighten monetary policy to rein in its booming economy.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings stood at 1,111.922 tonnes as of Jan. 22, unchanged from the previous business day.

Palladium


Prices rose but were some way off last week's 19-month highs of $471.75 per ounce, when the recent launch of exchange-traded funds in the United States fuelled investment demand.

Palladium climbed to $436 an ounce, versus $430.50 late in New York on Friday.


Platinum


Was bid at $1,547.50 per ounce, against $1,546.50. It touched $1,654 last week, its highest since August 2008.

Holdings of ETF Securities' U.S.-based platinum exchange-traded fund rose 10 per cent on Friday, while those of its U.S. palladium product climbed by a third, the company said on Monday.

Silver


Prices were at $17.20 an ounce versus $16.96 an ounce late on Monday.

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