SINGAPORE, March 9 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on
Friday, rising in tandem with other commodities and equities,
after lower-than-expected inflation data out of China suggested
more monetary easing could be on its way.	
    China's annual rate of consumer inflation slowed sharply to
a 20-month low of 3.2 percent in February, comfortably within
Beijing's 2012 target of 4 percent, giving policymakers room to
further loosen monetary policy to support slowing growth.
 	
    The prospect of ample cash in the market offset the appeal
of gold as an inflation hedge in the short term, analysts said.	
    "A lower headline inflation number means that the central
bank can continue to be very accommodative, which means printing
more money," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at
Societe Generale in Hong Kong.	
    "The more money it prints versus the gold out there, the
more it should raise the value of gold versus that money."	
    Spot gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,705.16 an ounce by
0315 GMT, on course for a 0.7-percent fall this week, its second
weekly decline in a row.	
    U.S. gold edged up 0.4 percent to $1,706.00.	
    Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could rise
towards $1,712 an ounce during the day, said Reuters market
analyst Wang Tao. 	
    	
    Expectations of a successful bond swap deal between Greece
and its private-sector debtors also helped buoy the market
sentiment, even though many believe Greece's troubles are
nowhere near an end as the deal will not solve its deep-seated
economic problems. 	
    "People are still worried about the economic conditions and
would rather not buy large quantities of physical gold at this
point," said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in
Hong Kong.	
    Poon said that physical buying dropped after prices
rebounded above $1,700 as investors adopted a wait-and-see
attitude, especially before the release of the key U.S. non-farm
payrolls data due later in the day. 	
    Silver and platinum prices were on course for a third
straight session of gains, although both headed for weekly
losses of more than 1 percent. 	
    Spot silver rose more than half a percent to $34.04
an ounce. Spot platinum gained 0.6 percent to $1,668.24.	
     	
     Precious metals prices 0315 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1705.16    5.82   +0.34      9.04
  Spot Silver        34.04    0.19   +0.56     22.93
  Spot Platinum    1668.24   10.00   +0.60     19.76
  Spot Palladium    698.72   -0.78   -0.11      7.08
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1706.00    7.30   +0.43      8.88         7703
  COMEX SILVER MAY2  34.08    0.25   +0.74     22.08         1508
  Euro/Dollar       1.3267
  Dollar/Yen         81.80

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