TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Thursday as the Federal Reserve's vow to keep rates low underpinned investor appetite for the precious metal, although its momentum was limited after it marked a recored high earlier this week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was up 0.2 percent at $1,237.40 per ounce at 0001 GMT, hovering well below Monday's record around $1,264.
* On Wednesday, the metal fell as low as $1,224.30, its lowest in more than a week after a report showed sales of new U.S. homes dropped a record 32.7 percent in May to the weakest level in at least four decades. [
]* U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> were up 0.3 percent at $1,238.80 per ounce after falling $6 in the previous session in New York to $1,234.80.
* After the U.S. COMEX settlement on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said at the end of a two-day policy meeting that the pace of U.S. economic recovery was faltering and renewed its vow to hold interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period. [
]* Gold in theory benefits from low interest rates, as they keep down the "opportunity cost" of holding non-interest bearing assets such as bullion.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings stood at 1,313.135 tonnes as of June 23, unchanged from a record marked the previous business day. [
]MARKET NEWS
* The dollar weakened against the euro and yen on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve reiterated its pledge to keep interest rates low for an extended period and struck a cautious tone on the U.S. economy. [
]* The head of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange said on Wednesday that improving business and boosting trading volumes at Japan's largest commodity exchange is of the utmost priority, not discussing potential mergers with others. [
]* U.S. stocks mostly fell in a volatile session on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the economic recovery as it vowed to keep cheap money flowing. [
]* Japan's Nikkei share average <
> was down 0.2 percent. [ ]DATA EVENTS
The following data is expected on Thursday <ECON>:
- Japan May trade data (2350 GMT)
- ECB meeting (N/A)
- Euro zone industrial orders for April (0900 GMT)
- U.S. durable goods for May (1230 GMT)
- Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1230 GMT)
- U.S. building permit revisions for May (N/A)
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Precious metals prices at 0036 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg 2 day chg MA 30 RSI Spot gold $1237.05 $1.85 +0.15% +6.84% $1221.33 52 Spot silver $18.54 $0.09 +0.49% +1.98% $18.39 50 Spot plat $1561.00 -$5.00 -0.32% -1.36% $1569.35 47 COMEX gold $1237.70 -$2.40 -0.19% -0.18% $1194.76 65 TOCOM gold 3,587 -24 -0.66% -0.91% 3,583 42 TOCOM plat 4,561 -50 -1.08% -2.65% 4,552 43 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.232 $0.001 +0.06% +0.45% Dlr/yen 89.90 0.04 +0.04% -0.71% TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)