By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures climbed as much as $20 an ounce on Globex by Monday morning in Asia, finding support after tallying a loss of more than $65 during a losing streak that spanned three sessions in a row.
Gold markets are "rallying on ideas recent selloff is overdone," said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN, adding that he hasn't seen any financial or economic news "to indicate widespread change."
Gold for April delivery tapped a high of $1,073 in electronic trading on Globex and was up $14.10 at $1,066.90 in afternoon trading in Tokyo.
April gold slumped on Friday, posting a fall of $10.20 by the close as a drop in the U.S. jobless rate couldn't offset a surge in the dollar, which jumped to 8-month highs against the euro on fears about sovereign debt in Europe. See Friday's metals column.
"Investors will eventually be realizing that shifting money from Greek, Portuguese and Spanish bonds to the supposed safe haven of U.S. Treasurys or German bunds isn't going to be the solution, since even the 'stronger' countries themselves are facing uncontrollable budget deficit crises of their own," said Martin Hennecke, an associate director at Tyche Group Ltd. in Hong Kong.
"With the safety of U.S. and German debt soon starting to become questioned as well, the default-and-inflation proof asset class of precious metals will most certainly become an increasingly popular investment alternative again," he said in emailed comments.
For now, the gold market has likely "hit an unconfirmed bottom" and traders will "have to see if upside volume materializes," Mark Leibovit, chief market strategist for VRTrader.com, said in a newsletter issued late last week.
In Asian trading Monday, shares of major metals miners traded mixed. Lihir Gold Ltd. (AU:LGL 2.79, +0.05, +1.82%) tacked on 2.6% in Sydney and Shandong Gold-Mining Co. Ltd. (CN:600547 64.42, +0.65, +1.02%) added 0.7%, while Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. (HK:2899 6.14, -0.07, -1.13%) fell 1.8% and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (JP:5713 1,216, -42.00, -3.34%) lost 1%.
