Thursday in Tokyo, bullion slid after China's growth data for the second quarter was reported to be slightly weaker than expected, that’s helping revive the precious metal's appeal as a hedge tool at a time of economic uncertainty.

Spot gold was trading at $1,212.45 per ounce as of 3:46 GMT, up 0.4% from late New York levels of $1,207.50. It rose to a one-week high of $1,217.85 an ounce on Wednesday. But it later succumbed to profit-taking as the euro and the US equity markets fell, responding to lessening investor interest in taking on risk after a downbeat assessment of the US economic recovery by the Federal Reserve.

Technically, the precious metal is predicted to rise to $1,223 as the second upward wave "c" is unfolding within a rising channel.

China's annual GDP growth moderated to 10.3% from 11.9% in the first quarter. The reading was slightly below market forecast of 10.5% growth.

Thursday's data showed China's economy slowed in the second quarter as the government steered monetary and fiscal policy back to normal after a record credit surge last year to counter the global crisis.

US gold futures for August delivery rose by $5.10 or 0.4% to $1,212.10 per ounce. The contract fell $6.50 to $1,207 on Wednesday.

The SPDR Gold Trust reported its holdings to flat stood at 1,314.819 tonnes as of Wednesday, unchanged for the second day in a row. The holdings managed to rise earlier this week, reversing a downtrend from a record 1,320.436 tonnes marked in late June.

The other precious metals were quoted at about 3:42 GMT as much as:

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover

Spot Gold 1211.65 4.15 0.34 10.58
Spot Silver 18.33 0.09 0.49 8.91
Spot Platinum 1522.50 3.00 0.20 3.78
Spot Palladium 464.50 0.00 0.00 14.55
TOCOM Gold 3450 -29.00 -0.83 5.86 25776
TOCOM Platinum 4364 -48.00 -1.09 -0.39 11790
TOCOM Silver 53 0.00 0.00 2.13 88
TOCOM Palladium 1334 -10.00 -0.74 14.51 84

TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices are in $ per ounce.