By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

Gold futures ended 1.3 percent higher on Monday, boosted by a dollar drop and short-covering after the metal fell to a three-month low in the previous session. Silver too rebounded from its previous lows and ended almost 1.5% higher on COMEX outperforming Gold.

IN FOCUS

- The world's largest gold-backed exchangetraded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings were at 1,106.378 tonnes as of Feb. 8, unchanged from the previous business day.

- The world's largest silver-backed exchangetraded fund, the iShares Silver Trust, said its silver holdings stood at 9,397.56 tonnes as of Feb. 8, up 0.5 percent or 45.79 tonnes from the previous business day.

- Saigon Jewelry Holding Co (SJC), the country's biggest manufacturer of gold bars, imported around four tonnes of gold for processing and sales on the domestic market last week, a state-run newspaper reported on Monday.

- Harmony Gold Mining Co. second quarter earnings were lifted by a rise in the price of gold and declining costs despite a drop in production, the South Africa-based company said on Monday.

- Harmony posted headline earnings per share of 49 South African cents in the quarter to December versus a loss of 12 cents in the preceding quarter, after the gold price averaged $1,100, up 14 percent on the September quarter.

- The euro and growth-linked currencies were on slippery ground on Monday as risk appetite was subdued on the back of mounting fiscal worries in the euro zone and lingering concerns about a global tax on banks.

- Reassurances about debt-strapped Greece and agreement that banks should pay for future rescue funds capped a G7 meeting in Canada's Arctic over the weekend, as European policymakers sought to convince jittery markets that they have things under control.

- The dollar slipped against the euro as investors regained some appetite for risk. A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced copper cheaper for foreign investors.

- The data showed U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 20,000 jobs in January, though the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to a fivemonth low of 9.7 percent.

- South Africa's net gold and foreign exchange reserves fell by 0.8 percent to $38.63 billion at the end of January, largely on changes in valuations led by the impact of a stronger dollar.

- The gold-silver ratio looks set to widen towards a peak hit last July as precious metals take a blow from risk aversion, taking a cue from the gold-platinum premium which turned lower earlier this week.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Precious metals are trading flat on COMEX on the back of mild movement in dollar. We expect dollar to stengthen during the day on the back of some risk aversion in market which may pressurise metals prices during the day.