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* U.S. retail sales fall, initial jobless claims rise
* Hopes of cenbanks to slow stimulus tapering boost gold
* Bullish double bottom pattern could send gold rallying
* Coming up: US import, export prices, industrial output Fri
(Adds comment, updates market activities)
By Frank Tang and Clara Denina
NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gold rose above $1,300
an ounce on Thursday for the first time in over three months,
gaining almost 1 percent after disappointing U.S. retail sales
data weighed on the dollar and increased bullion's appeal as a
currency hedge.
The dollar index tumbled 0.5 percent after U.S.
retail sales fell unexpectedly in January and the number of
Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last
week, in the latest signs of slowing economic growth.
Recent U.S. economic data, including two straight months of
weak jobs growth, have raised questions over whether the world's
biggest economy can sustain growth and made some investors hope
the Fed would take a slower approach to tapering its bond
purchases.
"The underlying notion that central banks are slowing down
their quantitative easing is boosting gold's appeal as an
inflation hedge and alternative currency," said Adam Sarhan,
chief executive officer at New York-based Sarhan Capital.
"Gold could go start a new upward trend following a
bottoming process in the last six months after holding above
$1,180 an ounce," Sarhan.
Spot gold rose to $1,302.40 an ounce, its highest
since Nov. 8. It was last up 0.9 percent at $1,301.79 an ounce
by 3:33 p.m. EST (2033 GMT).
U.S. COMEX gold futures for April delivery settled up
$5.10 at $1,300.10 an ounce. Trading volume was about 35 percent
below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Tom Fitzpatrick, analyst at Citigroup's technical research
unit CitiFX, said gold could get a boost from a bullish double
bottom between June and December last year.
"We fully expect that gold has the potential to once again
test the neckline of a double bottom which stands at $1,434 an
ounce," Fitzpatrick said.
Investors have been cautiously moving back into the precious
metal as seen in flows into SPDR Gold Trust , the world's
largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund.
Holdings in the ETF rose 1.80 tonnes to 798.85 tonnes on
Tuesday. The fund, which lost around 500 tonnes in 2013, has not
recorded any outflows in three weeks.
Among other precious metals, silver mirrored gold's
gains, rising 1.1 percent to $20.45 an ounce.
Platinum climbed 0.6 percent to $1,409.80 an ounce,
while palladium gained 0.7 percent to $729.25 an ounce.
3:33 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold APR 1300.10 5.10 0.4 1286.20 1302.70 113,596
US Silver MAR 20.395 0.054 0.3 20.125 20.515 40,566
US Plat APR 1416.60 9.30 0.7 1394.90 1417.60 8,163
US Pall MAR 731.10 2.05 0.3 721.90 731.90 4,313
Gold 1301.79 11.15 0.9 1286.40 1302.20
Silver 20.450 0.220 1.1 20.150 20.490
Platinum 1409.80 7.80 0.6 1395.50 1415.50
Palladium 729.25 4.85 0.7 724.50 731.00
TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 120,785 159,851 184,987 16.4 -0.32
US Silver 52,275 47,810 56,670 24.83 0.13
US Platinum 8,418 10,899 13,288 16.73 -1.63
US Palladium 6,388 5,327 5,604 16.73 -1.20
(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore;
Editing by David Evans, Keiron Henderson, Meredith Mazzilli and
Marguerita Choy)
((Frank.Tang@thomsonreuters.com)(+1 646 223 6126)(Reuters
Messaging: frank.tang.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS PRECIOUS/