* 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 participants in Asia
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=> was almost flat at $1,092.55 an ounce as of
0629 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $1,092.40.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> were up 0.3
percent at $1,093.20 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 in spite of a rally in the dollar has shown
that 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 over
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.
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 to 9,446.40
tonnes on Friday. []
The latest data showed noncommercial net long U.S. gold
futures positions fell for the fourth straight week, suggesting a
shift away from the precious metal by speculative players.
Such positions fell to 181,519 contracts in the week ended
Feb. 9, down 13 percent from a week earlier, 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 <1683.OS> and another ETF tracking platinum futures
contracts <1682.OS>, both listed on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
[]
Precious metals prices at 0632 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1092.00 -0.40 -0.04 -0.34
Spot Silver 15.45 -0.03 -0.19 -8.20
Spot Platinum 1502.50 -10.00 -0.66 2.42
Spot Palladium 410.50 -4.00 -0.97 1.23
TOCOM Gold 3176.00 24.00 +0.76 -2.55 55979
TOCOM Platinum 4356.00 -18.00 -0.41 -0.57 13070
TOCOM Silver 45.50 -0.30 -0.66 -11.99 384
TOCOM Palladium 1199.00 -1.00 -0.08 2.92 139
Euro/Dollar 1.3585
Dollar/Yen 90.07
TOCOM prices in yen per gram.
(Editing by Michael Watson)
