Gold and oil stem losses as commodity sell-off eases

Gold rebounded more than 1 per cent after falling to two-year lows , although caution prevailed among investors worried over the health of the global economy.

Other precious metals such as platinum and palladium also bounced back along with copper after a two-day slide, while silver snapped a four-day losing streak.

Asian equities either rose or trimmed declines, but gains in Japanese government bonds suggested that risk aversion remains intact.

Gold's recovery comes a day after it shed $125 an ounce, its biggest ever daily drop, as the selling that began on Friday stalled after prices hit their cheapest since January 2011.

The precious metal, which tumbled more than 8 per cent in the previous session, fell as much as 2 per cent earlier today, before buyers emerged.

"The scale of the down move is such that whenever we get any signs of stabilisation or any official sign of interest to buy, it's going to cause something in the order of a 1.5 to 2 per cent rebound. It's only to be expected," said Tim Riddell, head of ANZ Global Markets Research, Asia.

"Given the scale of the sell-off, I would say that the rebound is not that impressive. The fact the stock market is stable is helping, and it's not creating a further position liquidation mode."

Spot gold was up 1.6 per cent at $1,373.86 an ounce earlier after hitting a session low of $1,321.35. Silver and palladium rose more than 3 percent, while platinum gained nearly 3 per cent. Japanese gold futures halved losses to 5 per cent.

"The fall in gold prices is reminiscent of some of the market capitulations seen during the global financial crisis when leveraged investors were required to sell assets to maintain balance sheets and preserve liquidity," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "The extent of leverage is now much lower and this may see more orderly conditions return to the gold market sooner rather than later."

Physical dealers saw inquiries from jewellers following the latest sell-off, but there were no signs of buying related to tensions between the two Koreas or bombings in Boston, which killed three people and injured more than 100.

Most commodities slid during early morning trading in Asia, as investors braced for another bout of selling. But the pressure tapered off in the afternoon, with Brent crude coming off the day's lows.

Brent sank below $100 a barrel for the first time since July as recent weak US and Chinese data stoked concerns about fuel consumption in the world's top two users.

Data yesterday showed China's gross domestic product grew a less than forecast 7.7 per cent in the first quarter, deflating hopes of a quicker recovery in the world's number two economy which expanded last year at its slowest clip in 13 years.

Adding to the gloom was data from the United States pointing to a slower-than-expected pace of manufacturing in New York, which comes on the heels of a recent batch of soft retail and jobs numbers.