SINGAPORE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Gold hit a fresh nine-week high
above $1,100 an ounce on Friday, as investors sprinted to
safe-haven assets due to jitters over the Chinese economy and
tumbling stock markets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,108.65 an ounce by 0044
GMT, after climbing to $1,112 earlier in the session, its
highest since Nov. 4.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 rose to $1,113.10, also a nine-week
high. Both have gained nearly 5 percent this week.
* Shares on major exchanges fell for a sixth straight day on
Thursday and crude oil prices touched multi-year lows as
investors fretted over the state of China's economy and its
ability to stabilize its stock market.
* In a move that deepened concerns over China's economic
health, the People's Bank of China set the yuan midpoint rate
lower for an eighth consecutive day. The 0.5 percent decline was
the biggest between daily fixings since August.
* Chinese markets face a day of high drama on Friday as
share trading resumes with no automatic mechanism in place to
restrict selling and the world watches to see if Beijing will
allow its currency to fall yet further.
* China's central bank is under increasing pressure from
policy advisers to let the yuan currency fall quickly and
sharply, by as much as 10-15 percent, as its recent gradual
softening is thought to be doing more harm than good.
* With the risk-averse sentiment in the market, gold - often
seen as a hedge against geopolitical and financial uncertainty -
rallied, along with other haven assets such as the Japanese yen
and U.S. Treasuries.
* In a sign of improving investor sentiment, assets of SPDR
Gold Trust GLD , the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose
0.65 percent to 645.13 tonnes on Thursday, the first increase in
three weeks.
* A softer dollar and news that China bought gold for its
reserves in December were also supportive for gold.
* With the U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later on
Friday, the focus later in the session could turn to U.S.
economy and its impact on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
* A strong report could prompt the Fed to raise U.S. rates
at a faster pace. Higher rates could dent demand for
non-interest-paying gold while boosting the dollar.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
PRICES AT 0044 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1108.65 -0.45 -0.04
Spot silver 14.29 -0.01 -0.07
Spot platinum 873.05 -0.75 -0.09
Spot palladium 494.25 2 0.41
Comex gold 1108.4 0.6 0.05
Comex silver 14.3 -0.044 -0.31
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months