PRECIOUS-Gold scales more than 3-week peak as coronavirus hits global economies

(Updates prices)
* SPDR Gold holdings hit highest in more than 3 years
* Japan to declare emergency, announce stimulus package
* Palladium falls 3%; platinum, silver up over 1%

By Brijesh Patel
April 6 (Reuters) - Gold jumped 1.5% to a more than
three-week high on Monday as worries over a global economic
slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic drove investors to
the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold XAU= was up 1.5% at $1,640.40 per ounce by 1237
GMT after hitting its highest since March 12 earlier in the
session. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were up 1.7% at $1,673.30.
"The virus's impact on the global economy and the
unprecedented amount of stimulus going through the veins of the
financial system should keep supporting gold," OANDA analyst
Craig Erlam said.
"Gold seems to have its eye on $1,700 per ounce and I
wouldn't be surprised to see it push higher."
The pandemic has infected more than a million people, killed
over 68,000 and prompted countries to extend lockdowns to curb
its spread, paralysing large swathes of the global economy.
In the latest move aimed at limiting damage from the virus,
Japan is likely to take "all steps" encompassing fiscal,
monetary and tax policies in a stimulus package to be approved
on Tuesday, a draft document seen by Reuters showed.
Gold is highly sensitive to interest rates, as lower rates
reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, will declare
a state of emergency over the pandemic as early as Tuesday, the
Yomiuri newspaper reported. "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 at Religare Broking Ltd.
Reflecting increased investor interest in gold, holdings of
the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold
Trust GLD , rose 0.7% to 978.99 tonnes on Friday - the highest
in more than three years. GOL/ETF
On the physical side, three of the world's biggest gold
refineries said they would partly reopen after a two-week
closure that disrupted global supply. Among other precious metals, autocatalyst palladium XPD=
was down 1.7% at $2,150.87 per ounce after slipping more than 3%
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= gained 1% to $727.50 per ounce, while silver
XAG= climbed 0.9% to $14.52.