Gold retreats as equities rally, oil bounces 6 pct

By Jan Harvey

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold fell on Friday as hints of more monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank weighed on the euro and pushed European shares up 3.2 percent, denting appetite for alternative assets, while oil rebounded.

Benchmark Brent crude, whose slide to 12-year lows this week fuelled risk aversion, bounced 6.2 percent on Friday as traders cashed in on record short positions. [O/R]

That fed into better appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks, and weighed on gold.

Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,097.10 an ounce at 1235 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were down 90 cents an ounce at $1,097.30.

"Gold has eased off from its $1,100 mark as the president of the ECB spurred some appetite for riskier assets," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said.

"The $1,100 mark is an important number with respect to any bull strength for the metal, and we need to stay above this number to fortify more demand."

ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that fading growth and inflation prospects will force the bank to review its policy stance in March, a strong signal that more easing could be coming within months. [nL8N15510D]

His comments lifted the dollar 0.4 percent against the euro and prompted a rally in beleaguered stock markets. [MKTS/GLOB]

"With equity markets remaining bid and oil continuing to squeeze higher, gold is likely to come under pressure and could test towards $1,085 in the short term," MKS said in a note.

Gold prices rallied to two-month highs at $1,112.00 earlier this month as oil prices plunged and heavy selling of equities in China spilled over into the global markets.

Gold benefited from the risk aversion among investors that sank stocks and crude oil, although slow physical demand from major consumers China and India kept a lid on price gains.

Premiums for gold prices in China rose only slightly this week and sellers in India offered discounts amid poor demand. [GOL/AS]

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York-listed SPDR Gold Shares , rose another 1.8 tonnes on Thursday, data from the fund showed. That brought its inflow for the week to 4.2 tonnes.

Among other precious metals, platinum was up 1.6 percent at $830.03 an ounce after selling dragged the metal to a fresh seven-year low of $806.31 on Thursday.

Palladium was up 1.4 percent to $504 an ounce and silver was up 0.4 percent at $14.13.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr. in Manila; editing by Adrian Croft and Elaine Hardcastle)