Gold advances on follow-up buying, Tokyo rises
16/6/2006 Sydney, Australia

TOKYO, June 16 - Gold rose on Friday on follow-through short-covering after the metal posted a strong recovery in U.S. trade, with sharp gains in Tokyo futures also helping provide overall support.

-- At 0026 GMT, spot gold (XAU=) was trading at $576.00/$578.00 an ounce, up from $566.50/$567.50 in late New York on Thursday.

-- Key most-distant April gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (0#JAU:) opened at 2,174 yen a gram, up 46 yen or 2.2 percent from Thursday's close of 2,128 yen.

-- A weaker dollar and rising oil price lifted gold on Thursday, as some traders turned to the metal due to its role as a perceived currency alternative and inflation hedge.

-- Traders also bought back gold to adjust their positions ahead of the weekend following a steep selloff this week.

-- Spot gold is expected to find support at its 200-day moving average (MA) of around $547, while resistance is seen around $585, its 7-day MA.

-- Silver (XAG=) advanced to $10.20/$10.30 an ounce from $10.00/10.10 late in New York.

-- Platinum (XPT=) edged down to $1,155/1,162 an ounce from $1,160/1,170 in New York.

-- Sister metal palladium (XPD=) rose slightly to $297/$303 compared with $295/$300 in New York.