PRECIOUS-Gold jumps as worsening virus fears drive safe-haven demand

(Adds analyst comment, details of new china coronavirus cases,
updates prices)
* SPDR Gold holdings hit highest in over 3 years
* China cases rise, Japan to declare emergency
* Palladium slips more than 1%

By Asha Sistla
April 6 (Reuters) - Gold rose to a one-week high on Monday
as demand for the safe-haven metal rose due to worries over the
worsening economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.6% to $1,626.08 per ounce by 0736
GMT, after rising as much as 0.8% in the previous session. U.S.
gold futures GCcv1 were up 0.6% at $1,655.10.
The coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, has
turned into a global pandemic that has claimed more than 65,000
lives and paralysed large swathes of the global economy.
"Gold follows the economy, it's still the real economy
hedge," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial
services firm AxiCorp.
"In this bear market, gold's moves suggest it's fairly
immune to the short covering rally in equities."
The metal jumped to more than one-week high, despite the
dollar's .DXY rise and gains in Asian equities. USD/
MKTS/GLOB
Exacerbating global worries over the pandemic, Mainland
China reported 39 new coronavirus cases as of Sunday, up from 30
a day earlier, and the number of asymptomatic cases also surged.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, will declare
a state of emergency over the pandemic as early as Tuesday, the
Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the number of infections topped
1,000 in the capital, Tokyo. "If Japan moves away from monetary policy and starts
rebasing currency by giving people lot of money, that will be
bullish for gold," said Innes.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust GLD , rose 0.7% to 978.99 tonnes on
Friday - highest in over three years. GOL/ETF
"From a long term standpoint, gold will still remain the
preferred asset as the environment of low interest rates and
virus induced global slowdown would support a prolonged rally,"
said Sugandha Sachdeva, vice-president, metals, energy and
currency research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Easing supply constraints for physical gold, three of the
world's biggest gold refineries said they would partially reopen
after a two-week closure that disrupted global supply.
Autocatalyst palladium XPD= fell 0.3% to $2,181.25 per
ounce after slipping over 1% in early trade.
New car registrations in Britain fell by an annual 40% in
March due to the coronavirus crisis, preliminary data from an
industry group showed on Monday. Platinum XPT= advanced 1.6% to $731.78 while silver XAG=
rose 0.9% to $14.52.