Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:31pm EDT
By Frank Tang

* ECB's Draghi comment to rescue euro zone underpins
    * Gold briefly above 100 DMA, seen near inflection point
    * SPDR Gold Trust posts outflow
 (New details throughout, updates comment, changes byline,
dateline, previously LONDON)
    By Frank Tang
    NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a third session on Thursday, boosted by hopes of more monetary easing after
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever was necessary to protect the euro zone from collapse.
    The metal briefly climbed over 1 percent, lifted by a rally on Wall Street after Draghi's remarks reassured
the equities market which expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to explore new tools to boost growth amid signs of economic
slowdown.
 "Fundamentally, gold is definitely improved big time this morning because of comments by Draghi to save the euro, which
basically means he's going to print money," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital. "If he prints money, that
means gold is going higher."
    Gold briefly broke above its 100-day moving average at $1,615.60 an ounce earlier in the session, marking the first
time bullion breached that level since May 1. Options-related buying also helped boost underlying gold futures as COMEX August
options will expire at Thursday's market close.
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/markets-precious-idUSL4E8IQ2XM20120726
"Right now gold is testing resistance. If we can break above it, we will get another leg higher," said Sarhan. He added that
gold is approaching a key inflection point at $1,660 an ounce based on a downward-sloping curve connecting recent highs on
weekly charts.
    Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,614.66 an ounce by 11:35 a.m. (1535 GMT), having earlier reached a three-week high
at $1,621.41.    U.S. gold futures for August delivery were up $5.70 an ounce at $1,613.80, with trading volume about 25 percent
above its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. The higher-than-usual volume was partly skewed by option expiration.
    Sharper appetite for risk and losses in the dollar versus the euro as a result of the Draghi comments also boosted buying
of U.S. equities and other commodities, and that underpinned gold. The S&P 500 index rose about 1 percent.
    Further monetary stimulus would maintain pressure on long-term interest rates, keeping the opportunity cost of
holding gold at rock bottom, and boosting concerns over inflation much further down the track.
    SPDR GOLD ETF POSTS OUTFLOW
    HSBC analyst James Steel said that gold investors are now looking ahead to Friday's second-quarter U.S. GDP data. Gold may
take its next cue based on expectations of Fed stimulus and movements in the U.S. dollar and equities markets after the
economic indicator.
    However, bullion's demand from the investment and physical sectors continued to remain weak. Gold buying from India, one of
the top bullion consumers, was still soft as a near-record low rupee curb buying due to the high price of gold in rupees.
    The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Trust reported a 2.1 tonne outflow on Wednesday. The
fund saw its biggest weekly outflow of physical metal this year last week.
    Silver climbed 0.9 percent to $27.57 an ounce, while platinum was up 0.9 percent at $1,403.74 an ounce and
spot palladium rose 0.6 percent to $565.20 an ounce.
 Prices at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT)
                               LAST      NET    PCT     YTD
                                         CHG    CHG     CHG
 US gold                    1613.80     5.70   0.4%    3.0%
 US silver                   27.530    0.064   0.2%   -1.4%
 US platinum                1407.90     8.50   0.6%    0.6%
 US palladium                570.00     4.75   0.8%  -13.1%
 Gold                       1614.66    10.78   0.7%    3.3%
 Silver                       27.57     0.25   0.9%   -0.4%
 Platinum                   1403.74    12.09   0.9%    0.8%
 Palladium                   565.20     3.20   0.6%  -13.4%
 Gold Fix                   1618.00    15.00   0.9%    2.8%
 Silver Fix                   27.81    70.00   2.6%   -1.3%
 Platinum Fix               1408.00     7.00   0.5%    2.0%
 Palladium Fix               571.00     5.00   0.9%  -10.2%
 (Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London; Editing by
Andrew Hay)