PRECIOUS METAL

Spot gold rebounded Wednesday in Singapore trading by as much as 0.8 percent from a sharp slide off the record high in the previous session.

Gold rose to a 1-1/2 week high on Friday as investors sought refuge in safe haven assets after a disappointing labour market report from the United States added to mounting fears about the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy

Gold prices recovered some early losses on Thursday after European stock markets fell, snapping a three-day rally, and as investors weighed up the prospect of a fresh round of quantitative easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Canadian gold miner Northgate Minerals said it agreed to be bought by peer AuRico Gold for C$1.46 billion ($1.48 billion), and ended a deal with Primero Mining .

Gold rose on Thursday after two days of sharp declines, as tumbling European and U.S. equity markets sparked by talk that Germany might enact a short-sale ban prompted investors to buy gold as a safe haven.

Gold tumbled nearly 3 percent on Thursday to more than $200 below Tuesday's record highs, as investors cashed in scorching gains in the precious metal after the CME Group hiked gold trading margins for a second time this month.

Gold prices tumbled for the past days, falling around 10 percent from its peak reached on Tuesday.

World stocks edged up on Thursday while gold fell sharply as investors took an optimistic view of how clearly the Federal Reserve will commit to supporting the economy at a gathering this week.

For Eriko Ebina, standing outside a downtown Tokyo medical equipment store that has a side business buying gold, the recent surge in prices for the precious metal was just too tempting.

Gold extended losses on Thursday to fall as much as $200 from Tuesday's record high, as investors cashed in scorching gains in the metal after the CME Group hiked trading margins for the precious metal for a second time this month.

Gold fell more than 1 percent Thursday, extending the previous session's losses, after the CME Group (CME.O) raised trading margins by the most in more than two and a half years to curb volatility.

Gold bounced back on Wednesday after suffering its worst setback in 18 months, as risk appetite retreated on Japan's debt rating downgrade, while oil and metals were supported by hopes the U.S. would inject fresh stimulus to boost the economy.

For Eriko Ebina, standing outside a downtown Tokyo medical equipment store that has a side business buying gold, the recent surge in prices for the precious metal was just too tempting.

Gold dropped 2.4 percent on Tuesday from the record $1,917.90 it achieve the day before as investors moved out of safe-haven assets like precious metals and U.S. Treasuries for stocks and other riskier assets.

Gold prices retreated more than 1 percent from record highs on Tuesday as a recovery in appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks, took the steam out of a rally that many saw as overdone above $1,900 an ounce.

Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion's safe-haven appeal.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's China unit has received regulatory approval to trade gold futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, it said on Tuesday, becoming the second foreign bank allowed access to the country's gold futures market.

Gold prices retreated more than 1 percent from record highs on Tuesday as a recovery in appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks, took the steam out of a rally that many saw as overdone above $1,900 an ounce.

The price of gold shot up to a record high Monday as traders abandoned other safe haven investments -- the ones governments can control -- for the world's oldest and most independent form of wealth.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's largest platinum producer, again raised its wage offer on Friday, trying to head off a strike that could cause a jump in global prices of the precious metal.

From dawn in Tokyo to dusk in New York on Friday, fear lifted gold to a record high -- its fifth such day in a row -- and boosted silver, too, as the world's investors succumbed to the accumulated effect of one emerging danger after another.