UPDATE 1-Asia Gold-India hunts bargains; premiums hardly changed

* Indian consumers buy on dips; gold prices near 6-wk lows

* Premiums barely changed in Singapore and Hong Kong (Adds premiums in Tokyo, updates prices)

By Lewa Pardomuan

SINGAPORE, July 6 (Reuters) - Bargain hunters resurfaced in India as gold slipped on Monday, but jewellers in other parts of Asia hoped for more price correction after bullion failed to sustain recent gains, dealers said.

Premiums for gold bars barely changed in Singapore and Hong Kong, suggesting that purchases from India, the world's largest bullion consumer, were insignificant. Southeast Asian buyers also stayed on the sidelines, but Japanese dealers saw buying from the electronics sector.

"If you ask me, I am pretty neutral and I think prices could continue to move lower. I think the market's going in a sideward consolidation mode and there could be further downside on gold," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"I wouldn't say forget about $1,000 but it's not what most people will be looking at for the moment," he said.

Gold XAU= fell $8.80 an ounce to $923.50 an ounce, within sight of a six-week low of $912.90 struck in late June. Gold was around 7 percent below an 11-month high above $1,000 an ounce hit in February.

Gold dropped about 0.7 percent last week, its biggest weekly fall in three weeks, having retreated from a four-month high near $990 struck hit in early June.

Gold bars were offered at a premium of 50 cents an ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore, unchanged from last week, despite some purchases from India, where the local gold market is in a lean season as fewer weddings take place during monsoons.

Demand for gold in India hinges on a good monsoon, which boosts farm output and rural incomes. A series of festivals and auspicious days for weddings is expected to boost gold demand from end-August till the end of the year. "There's early buy on dips from India but that's about it. Indonesia and Vietnam are quiet," said a physical dealer in Singapore.

"We've seen buying and selling in the domestic Indonesian market, so there's not much of a hedging overseas," he said.

India's jewellery demand has suffered because of high gold prices earlier this year and a slowdown in the economy, with consumption falling 52 percent to 34.7 tonnes in the first quarter of this year.

The Bombay Bullion Association said on Monday India's demand for gold and silver is likely to be hurt further this year following an increase in import duty in the budget for 2009/10. [ID:nBMA003281]

Hong Kong dealers also noted bargain hunters but investors waited for more clues from the currency markets, where a firmer U.S. dollar against the euro put pressure on gold prices. [USD/]

"People don't know what to do. We can see some buying interest but it's not great. We may see decent buying if gold breaks $900," said a dealer in Hong Kong, referring to levels last seen in May.

Gold bars were quoted at 20 to 30 U.S. cents an ounce in Hong Kong, barely changed from last week. Gold bars were at a discount in Tokyo.

"The gold discount in Tokyo remains at 25 cents an ounce. The general public is quiet but we can see a bit of improvement in demand from the industrial sector," said a dealer in Tokyo. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)