Gold rises above $1,200, shrugs off rising equities

SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (Reuters): Gold edged up above $1,200 an ounce on Friday as buyers helped the metal hold up against rising equity markets, paring losses fueled by worries over a looming hike in U.S. interest rates.
A surge in gold prices to above $1,230 an ounce last week from around $1,140 a week earlier has spurred caution among investors, said Yuichi Ikemizu, branch manager at Standard Bank in Tokyo.
"People are not overly bearish anymore. They have learned their lesson when gold rallied sharply so they're not bold enough to go short around these levels," he said.
Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $1,200.50 an ounce by 0711 GMT, after hitting a session high of $1,201.50. The gain helped cut bullion's weekly loss to 1.8 per cent from more than 2 per cent earlier in the day.