* Gold seen stabilising around current level
* Gold may retrace to $1,340/oz -technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. industrial output, September; 1315 GMT
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Gold fell nearly one percent
on Monday, weighed down by a rebound in the dollar, after
Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke on Friday gave few details of
the much-anticipated easing move being weighed by the central
bank.
The dollar rose about half a percent against a basket of
currencies on Monday, after rising off a 10-month low late last
week, and technical indicators pointed to the possibility of a
further short-covering rebound. []
"For today, gold prices will continue to slip a bit, and
the longs liquidate their positions. On Friday gold's
performance was lacklustre due to profit-taking, as investors
think the gold rally may get beaten up after it reached record
prices recently," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip
Futures.
"But so long as gold is able to stay above the $1,350
level, I'll still look at a bullish bias for gold."
Bernanke on Friday gave his most explicit signal yet that
the U.S. central bank was set to ease monetary policy further,
but gave no details. []
Spot gold <XAU=> fell $12.55 to $1,357.95 an ounce by 0317
GMT, extending losses from the previous session.
"Prices went down sharply this morning, as the dollar
strengthened. But we have seen good buying around $1,356 to the
$1,356.5 level. Now the price is stabilising around this
level," said a Singapore-based dealer, adding that there was
strong support in the range from $1,350 to $1,352.
"And if the dollar doesn't do much, gold could be
consolidating around current levels."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> fell one
percent to $1,359.2 an ounce.
A bullish target at $1,404 per ounce for spot gold <XAU=>
has been temporarily aborted, as the retracement may continue
to drive the price down to $1,340 per ounce, said Wang Tao, a
Reuters market analyst. [][]
For a graphic showing the 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20101810093509.jpg
Investors are eyeing U.S. industrial production data due
later on Monday for clues to the timing and extent of the
Federal Reserve's debt purchase programme.
Spot silver <XAG=> fell as much as 2.3 percent to $23.69 an
ounce, before recovering to $23.80. Silver hit a 30-year high
at $24.90 last Thursday.
Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust <SLV> climbed to a new
high of 10,224.05 tonnes by Oct 15 from 10,163.20 tonnes on Oct
14.[]
iShares' holdings had reached record levels for three
consecutive sessions, showing increasing interest in silver, a
cheaper alternative to gold.
Bullion investors may be rightly impressed by silver's
outperformance of gold this year, but they would be well
advised to be wary of seeing the precious metal purely as a
cheaper proxy, analysts said.[]
Spot palladium <XPD=> fell 1.3 percent to $577.50 an ounce,
off the nine-year high at $603.50 hit in the previous session.
Precious metals prices at 0317 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1357.95 -12.55 -0.92 23.93
Spot Silver 23.80 -0.46 -1.90 41.41
Spot Platinum 1680.50 -7.10 -0.42 14.55
Spot Palladium 577.50 -7.30 -1.25 42.42
TOCOM Gold 3561.00 -49.00 -1.36 9.27
43699
TOCOM Platinum 4423.00 -53.00 -1.18 0.96
10094
TOCOM Silver 62.40 -2.20 -3.41 20.70
1412
TOCOM Palladium 1516.00 -58.00 -3.68 30.13
289
Euro/Dollar 1.3879
Dollar/Yen 81.35
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
