* Gold market thin on U.S. holiday
* Gold's rebound to end below $1,500 - technicals
* Coming up: Euro zone Sentix index for July; 0730 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - Gold regained some lost
territory from the previous session on Monday supported by a
weaker dollar, but easing concern about Greece's debt crisis has
diminished gold's appeal as a safe haven in the short term.
Euro zone finance ministers have approved a 12 billion euro
instalment of Greece's bailout, sending the euro to a one-month
high against the dollar in Asia on Monday. The dollar
edged down around 0.7 percent against a basket of
currencies.
Gold dipped below the key support level of $1,500 in the
last session, and faces strong headwinds in the short term,
traders and analysts said.
"After Greece passed the austerity measures, market
participants will need to find another reason to buy into gold,"
said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures.
"But right now it's hard to find a catalyst for gold prices
to push higher."
The price outlook for the rest of the year however remains
bullish, supported by the wobbly economic recovery in the United
States, uncertainties in the euro zone's fiscal health, and high
inflation in major fast-growing economies like China and India,
analysts said.
Spot gold gained half a percent to $1,492.89 an ounce
by 0559 GMT, after losing 1 percent in the previous session.
U.S. gold GCcv1 rose 0.7 percent to $1,493.40 an ounce.
Technical analysis also pointed at lack of momentum,
suggesting that gold may end its weak rebound below $1,500 and
resume a preceding fall towards $1,472, said Wang Tao, Reuters
market analyst.
"There is small buying interest in Asia, but nothing
game-changing," said a Hong Kong-based dealer, "The gold market
will be taking cues from the euro and oil, which are giving some
upside support to bullion."
Gold is likely to be rangebound between $1,470 and $1,520 in
the next few days, he added.
Managed money sharply cut their bullish bets in COMEX gold
futures and options, as bullion prices tumbled, futures
regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed
Friday.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped to two-week low of
1,205.809 tonnes by July 1.
Activity was thin as the U.S. financial markets are closed
for a public holiday on Monday.
Supporting market sentiment, about 8,000 workers at
Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's Indonesian unit
started a seven-day strike, although Freeport said the strike
would not impact production at Grasberg mine, which it claims to
contain the world's largest single gold reserve.
Precious metals prices 0559 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1492.89 7.09 +0.48 5.17
Spot Silver 33.96 0.02 +0.06 10.05
Spot Palladium 758.72 4.72 +0.63 -5.10
TOCOM Gold 3885.00 -4.00 -0.10 4.18 65282
TOCOM Platinum 4506.00 34.00 +0.76 -4.05 11935
TOCOM Silver 88.20 -0.90 -1.01 8.89 389
TOCOM Palladium 1976.00 27.00 +1.39 -5.77 233
COMEX GOLD AUG1 1493.40 10.80 +0.73 5.07 7515
COMEX SILVER SEP1 34.01 0.30 +0.89 9.91 1811
Euro/Dollar 1.4523
Dollar/Yen 80.74
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Ed Lane)
Reuters
