PRECIOUS-Gold gains as stocks lose steam on surge in virus cases

(Updates prices)
* Asian stocks wobble, yen rises from a three-week low
* China reports 242 new deaths, 14,840 new cases
* Dollar holds near four-month high

By K. Sathya Narayanan
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Thursday as a surge in the
number of new coronavirus cases in China dashed hopes the
epidemic was slowing and drove investors to safe-haven assets.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.6% to $1,574.66 per ounce at 0806
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.4% to $1,577.90.
"The unfortunate increase in number of cases in the Hubei
province, which is ground zero ... has affected risk-on
sentiment," said John Sharma, an economist at National Australia
Bank (NAB).
Hubei reported 242 new deaths and confirmed 14,840 new cases
as of Wednesday, a dramatic rise from the 2,015 new cases a day
earlier. The fastest rise in the daily death count since the outbreak
weighed on Asian equities, but lifted the safe-haven yen JPY=
from a three-week low against the U.S. dollar. MKTS/GLOB
The U.S. dollar .DXY too was hovering close to a more than
four-month high scaled against key rivals in the previous
session, making gold costlier for investors holding other
currencies.
"With higher dollar index, the scope for gold to go much
higher is limited," NAB's Sharma said.
Amid slowing global economic growth, negative Treasury
yields and easing monetary policy around the world, investors
are now looking for any information regarding the economic
impact of the epidemic.
"The possibility of weakness in the economy in the coming
days is the reason why investors are considering gold as a safe
haven," said Hareesh V., head of commodity research at Geojit
Financial Services in Kochi, south India.
The health emergency has led to disruption in global
container shipping, with lines re-routing cargoes and reducing
calls to Chinese ports.
"Shipments from many countries have already been delayed
into China so that would impact both China and other related
countries," Hareesh said.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday
said he expected some drag "soon" from the virus, even though he
reaffirmed confidence in the U.S. economic outlook.
In its policy meeting last month, the U.S. central bank
cautioned of a potential hit from the epidemic, while leaving
the benchmark interest rates unchanged.
Elsewhere, palladium XPD= fell 0.8% to $2,386 per ounce,
silver XAG= rose 1.1% to $17.66, and platinum XPT= gained
0.1% to $962.29.