* HK, Singapore markets closed until Wednesday for holiday
* SPDR Gold holdings unchanged since Feb. 5
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied around $1,095
an ounce on Monday as pent-up demand from the physical side
remained solid despite recent dollar strength, which often dulls
the allure of the precious metal.
But gains were capped due to a lack of market participants
with many markets in the region closed for the Lunar New Year
holiday. U.S. markets are also closed on Monday, for Presidents
Day. []
"Gold is moving sideways, waiting for trade in Europe to
begin," said Kaname Gokon, deputy general manager at Okato Shoji
Co's research section.
Hong Kong and Singapore markets resume trading on Wednesday,
but markets in mainland China will be closed until next Monday.
Spot gold <XAU=> edged up 0.1 percent to $1,093.55 an ounce
as of 0318 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of
$1,092.40.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> were up 0.4
percent at $1,094.60 an ounce.
On Thursday, spot gold rose to a session high of $1,097.75 an
ounce, the highest since Feb. 4. But further gains were capped by
a fall in the euro versus the dollar due to questions about a
rescue deal for Greece, while China's surprise monetary
tightening late last week hit risk appetite.
The euro edged towards nine-month lows against the dollar on
Monday as doubts intensified about whether policymakers in the
euro zone will help debt-laden Greece, prompting investors to add
to long positions in the greenback. []
Euro zone finance ministers hold meetings about the matter on
Monday and Tuesday. []
Okato Shoji's Gokon said gold could break above $1,100 an
ounce as its strength despite a rally in the dollar has shown
physical buying remains solid.
Spot gold is in a recovery phase after it hit a three-month
trough of $1,043.75 earlier this month amid fiscal fears for some
European countries.
"Buying demand has been quite strong at or below $1,080.
That's a different type of buying from those who watch and react
to the currency market," Gokon said.
The holdings by the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, held steady at
1,106.378 tonnes on Friday, unchanged since Feb. 5. []
In contrast, the world's largest silver-backed
exchange-traded fund, iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its
bullion holdings rose 48.84 tonnes or 0.5 percent from the
previous business day to 9,446.40 tonnes as of Feb 12.
[]
Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions fell for
the fourth straight week in the week ended Feb. 9, according to
the weekly Commitments of Traders report published by the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission. []
Among other market news, the Osaka Securities Exchange listed
on Monday an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking gold futures
contracts and another ETF tracking platinum futures contracts,
both listed on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. []
Precious metals prices at 0324 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1094.45 -26.55 -2.37 -0.11
Spot Silver 15.55 -2.00 -11.40 -7.61
Spot Platinum 1509.00 -12.00 -0.79 2.86
Spot Palladium 416.25 1.75 +0.42 2.65
TOCOM Gold 3341.00 189.00 +6.00 2.52 45844
TOCOM Platinum 4516.00 142.00 +3.25 3.08 10375
TOCOM Silver 45.70 -0.10 -0.22 -11.61 264
TOCOM Palladium 1199.00 -1.00 -0.08 2.92 113
Euro/Dollar 1.3615
Dollar/Yen 90.13
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)
