MANILA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold stayed near its highest since
June at close to $1,200 an ounce on Tuesday, buoyed by
uncertainty over global growth that has kept stock markets under
immense selling pressure.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,191.10 an ounce by 0037
GMT. The metal, which thrives on instability in markets
elsewhere, rose as high as $1,200.60 on Monday, its strongest
since June 22 last year.
* Bullion gained 5 percent last week, its biggest such
increase since July 2013, boosting gold bull expectations that
the price can go higher as global headwinds could make it tough
for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.
* U.S. gold for April delivery GCcv1 was off 0.4 percent
at $1,192.70 an ounce.
* Economic uncertainty, a weak dollar and falling
expectations for U.S. interest rate hikes have spurred the
biggest buying spree of gold exchange-traded-funds in nearly
five years.
* An increasingly important gauge of U.S. inflation tumbled
last month to its lowest level since the New York Fed began the
survey in mid-2013, in what could be taken as another warning
bell for the U.S. central bank.
* Sentiment in the euro zone deteriorated more than expected
in February as concern about the global economy prompted
investors to pare back their expectations to the lowest level
since November 2014, a survey showed.
* Newcrest Mining NCM.AX suspended all mining and
processing at its Gosowong operation in Indonesia after the
underground section of the gold mine was damaged by a cave-in
late on Monday, which trapped one of its workers. For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian stocks were scorched as stability concerns put a
torch to European bank stocks and sent investors stampeding to
only the safest of safe haven assets. MKTS/GLOB
* The yen held at its highest in over a year against the
dollar, having soared broadly as a selloff in European and U.S.
stocks stoked demand for the safe-haven currency. USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Industrial output Dec
0700 Germany Trade data Dec
1100 U.S. NFIB business optimism Jan
1500 U.S. JOLTS job openings Dec
1500 U.S. Wholesale inventories Dec