* Spot gold recovers from 1-1/2-week low of $1,711.29
* Spot gold could fall to $1,696 -technicals
* Coming up: Germany industrial output, Dec; 1100 GMT
(Adds detail; updates prices)
SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Spot gold gained half a
percent on Tuesday, snapping two straight sessions of losses,
with investors waiting for the next development in Greece's debt
restructuring talks as a new deadline looms.
Bullion fell to a 1-1/2-week low in the previous session
when Greece postponed the decision on accepting painful terms
for a new bailout until Tuesday.
Most markets were subdued, as investors were split over
whether the wrangling over Greece would eventually be resolved
or trigger contagion across other vulnerable euro zone
countries.
Spot gold gained half a percent to $1,728.09 an ounce
by 0713 GMT, off the 1-1/2-week low of $1,711.29 touched in the
previous session.
U.S. gold edged up 0.3 percent to $1,730.60.
Although gold prices fell for two consecutive sessions,
analysts and traders said gold's long-term bullish trend remains
intact, supported by safe-haven demand amid a murky global
economic outlook and hopes of monetary easing in the world's key
economies.
"What we saw was a technical reaction after a solid run,
after being in overbought territory, which coincided with the
better-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls number," said
Dominic Schnider, head of commodity research at UBS Wealth
Management.
The surprisingly good U.S. jobs data knocked spot gold down
nearly 2 percent on Friday, as it diminished hopes for fresh
quantitative easing any time soon, but the ultra-loose monetary
policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve will help boost gold in the
long run, Schnider and other analysts said.
A key support level for gold would be $1,680, Schnider
added.
Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could fall to
$1,696 during the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Major bullion bank HSBC said it was keeping its 2012 average
gold forecast at $1,850 an ounce due to accommodative global
monetary policies and investor jitters about financial markets.
Data showed that China's gold imports from Hong Kong in 2011
grew more than three times from a year earlier to 427,877
kilograms, even after a sharp drop in December's shipment.
The price decline in gold has attracted some buying in Asia,
including India and China, but in Japan investors stood on the
sidelines awaiting further trading cues.
"Everybody keeps watching what's going to happen, and we
haven't seen any interest on either buying or selling," said an
official at a large bullion house in Tokyo.
The discount for gold bars in Tokyo widened to 75 cents an
ounce from 50 cents in mid-January, he added.
Precious metals prices 0713 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1728.09 8.89 +0.52 10.51
Spot Silver 33.70 0.07 +0.21 21.70
Spot Platinum 1622.49 0.50 +0.03 16.47
Spot Palladium 703.50 0.53 +0.08 7.82
COMEX GOLD APR2 1730.60 5.70 +0.33 10.45 14283
COMEX SILVER MAR2 33.76 0.01 +0.03 20.94 4023
Euro/Dollar 1.3124
Dollar/Yen 76.66
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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