PRECIOUS-Gold strikes record on inflation, economic worries

                                
 SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Gold defied a rebound in the
dollar on Monday to power to a record on safe-haven buying,
driven by growing worries about inflation and a drop in U.S.
stocks that stirred doubt about the economic outlook.
                                
 Trading was thin with the absence of Japanese speculators.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $1,159.75 an ounce by 0050
GMT, up $11.55 an ounce from New York's notional close on
Friday, after hitting another record at $1,161.80.
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> added
$13.2 an ounce at $1,160.00 on the COMEX division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange, having struck record at $1,162.50.
                                
 * Gold has notched up successive record highs this month,
underpinned by a number of central bank gold purchases,
including India's acquisition of 200 tonnes of the precious
metal from the International Monetary Fund.
                                
 MARKET NEWS
                                
 * Oil <CLc1> rose toward $78 a barrel on Monday on
heightened tensions between Iran and Western nations, after
Tehran said it would begin war games to help protect its
nuclear facilities.
                                
 * The U.S. dollar inched higher on Monday, extending a
short-covering bounce as investors pared risk trades in a
holiday-thinned week.  The euro <EUR=> edged down to $1.4845,
from Friday's $1.4860. [USD/]
                                
 * U.S. stocks fell for a third straight day on Friday as
investors took weaker-than-expected results from computer maker
Dell <DELL.O> and homebuilder D.R. Horton <DHI.N> as a further
sign that the recovery would be anemic. [.N]
                                
 * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund,
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,117.493
tonnes as of Nov 20, unchanged from the previous business day.
[GOL/SPDR]
                                
 DATA EVENTS
                                
 * Data and events expected on Monday <ECON> (GMT):
                                
 - Japan national holiday
                                
 - China October trade data                  (0040)
                                
 - Euro zone November PMI manufacturing data (0858)
                                
 - Chicago Fed Oct national activity data    (1330)
                                
 - U.S. October existing home sales          (1500)
                                
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  PRICES
 Precious metals prices at 0050 GMT
 Metal         Last      Change  Pct chg  Day ago pct  MA 30
RSI  Spot gold    $1159.75   $11.55  +1.01%   +29.29%   $860.10
  xx
 Spot silver    $18.64    $0.18  +0.98%   +55.59%     $11.29 
xx
 Spot plat    $1452.50   $11.50  +0.80%    +0.55%   $1372.13 
xx
 COMEX gold   $1160.10   $13.30  +1.16%    +1.59%   $1086.16 
xx
 Currencies                                               
Euro/dlr       $1.490  -$0.008  -0.51%    -0.22%
 Dlr/yen         88.95    -0.16  -0.18%    -0.73%
 (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
 ((lewa.pardomuan@thomson reuters.com; +65 6870 3834; Reuters
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