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NEW YORK/LONDON,louboutin, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Gold rose 1.5 percent on Thursday, boosted by a surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank and safe-haven buying as Greece's teetering government added uncertainty to the future of the European Union.
Bullion is on track for its biggest gain in ten days, after data showed that U.S. service-sector growth slowed in October. Also supporting gold was financial uncertainty related to the demise of the now-defunct U.S. futures brokerage MF Global Holdings.
Even though gold has recently moved in sync with riskier assets, the metal -- a traditional safe haven -- rose as Greece's government backed away from a proposed referendum on staying in the euro; and, as European leaders talked for the first time of a possible Greek exit to preserve the single currency.
"It feels like we are back to square one with questions about Greece backing out of the rescue plan and its possible ejection from the EU. Expect the safe-haven angle to keep the entire precious group trading higher,moncler pas cher," said Miguel Perez-Santalla, vice president of Heraeus Precious Metals Management.
Spot gold was up 1.5 percent to $1,burberry,763.69 by 12:42 p.m. EDT (1642 GMT),burberry pas cher, set for its third consecutive day of gains. U.S. gold for December futures was up $35.80 at $1,doudouen moncler,765.40.
COMEX gold options floor trader Jonathan Jossen said there were heavy trading of bullish option strategies,abercrombie, including out-of-the money calls and bull call spreads,casque dr dre, with $2,000 being a popular strike price and most of them expiring in December.
Gold held gains after the ECB cut interest rates by a quarter point to 1.25 percent in a surprise move on Thursday and President Mario Draghi said the euro zone could subside into a "mild recession" in the latter part of 2011.
But the rate cut effect was likely to be short lived, Ole Hansen,louboutin pas cher, senior manager at Saxo Bank, said,moncler, "because it's happened on the back of an increasingly murky situation in Europe where we are receiving Greek news every five minutes."
"Gold has started to revert back into its role as a safe-haven play and this (rate cut) is not changing that," Hansen said. "Also it's indicating that we're going to see lower rates for longer in the future and that is obviously the main supporting factor for gold."
Bullion extended gains as the U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said service-sector activity growth in October slowed to its weakest in three months.
SAFE HAVEN OR LIQUIDITY?
Gold has been rangebound in the past week or so, with the threat of a potentially disastrous Greek default burnishing gold's safe-haven appeal while fears of a liquidity crunch in case of a default have kept gains in check.
"Our fear is that weakness in equities can and perhaps may ignite selling in gold as margin calls once again return to the fore. Should equities continue to falter,casque beats, gold shall follow," said independent investor Dennis Gartman.
U.S. stocks rose 1 percent as the Greek vote over a euro-zone bailout was put into question, with sentiment also lifted by the ECB rate cut. .N
Asian physical buying has slowed due to high prices and the euro zone uncertainty.
Gold traders in India, the world's biggest consumer of bullion, slowed purchases after the peak festivals of Dhanteras and Diwali last week, though wedding season demand may pick up in coming weeks.
Spot silver rose 0.8 percent at $34.48. Platinum climbed 2.6 percent to $1,637.99, and palladium gained 1.8 percent to $658.47.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Rujun Shen in Singapore; editing by Marguerita Choy)相关的主题文章：
