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TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) Gold edged lower on Friday on light profit-taking after gaining in New York following a recovery in oil prices that induced short-covering, but sentiment for the metal was bearish following this week's sell-off.

-- Spot gold was trading down at $571.20/572.00 an ounce by 0040 GMT, compared with $572.50/573.50 late on Thursday in New York, where it rose 1 percent.

-- Firm Japanese gold futures provided support to the cash gold price.

-- The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange gold for August 2007 delivery opened up 37 yen, or 1.7 percent, at 2,185 yen from Thursday's close of 2,148 yen.

-- Cash gold was expected to be supported by physical buying from India ahead of the festival season there. Appetite from the Middle East was also expected to be strong.

-- The market has seen active buying during Asian trade this week since the price dipped below $600.

-- On charts, there were resistance lines at the seven-day moving average of $582 and the 14-day moving average of $584.

-- The underlying trend for gold remains weak as investment funds trading in short-term are still keen to shift into bullish equity markets.

-- Traders said oil prices would continue to set the trend for gold and other precious metals.

-- On Thursday, crude oil jumped from lows after an OPEC delegate said the producer group would cut output by 1 million barrels per day as soon as possible to prop up prices.

-- Silver drifted to $11.01/11.06 an ounce from $11.07/11.14 late in New York.

-- Platinum fell to $1,077/1,082 an ounce compared with $1,081/1,086 in New York.

-- Palladium inched down to $298/303 an ounce from $299/304.

REUTERS CS KP1134