(Corrects lead to show gold weighed down by growing risk
appetite)
* Gold steadies as players await news to break out of ranges
* SPDR holdings stay at record high
* Silver trust holdings hit a record high
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - Gold was steady on Friday after
ending up a touch in the previous session, weighed down by
growing investor risk appetite but drawing support as a hedge
amid lingering uncertainties.
The dollar eased against the yen and euro after rebounding
the previous day while Japanese stocks tracked their U.S. peers
higher.
Gold prices have been stuck in ranges as players await new
incentives now that the U.S. government appears to have taken
all measures possible to deal with the country's economic and
financial distress, traders said.
Later on Friday, U.S. personal income and consumption data
for February will be released. The Economic Cycle Research
Institute will report its weekly index of economic activity for
the week ended March 20. []
"The market is very quiet, in range-trading because there
is no new focus at all and people are waiting for some breaking
news," said Y.H. Chang, a senior trader at Bank of China in
Hong Kong.
He said some funds may have shifted from gold to silver
trust holdings, but the influence on spot gold prices was
likely limited given the smaller size of the silver trust
compared with that of gold.
Gold <XAU=> was at $932.90 per ounce at 0310 GMT, little
changed from New York's notional close of $933.05. Spot silver
<XAG=> was little changed at $13.48 an ounce.
Bullion has recovered about 5 percent from a six-week low
of $882.90 hit on March 18, but is still 7 percent off the
11-month high above $1,000 set in February, and well under an
all-time peak of $1,030.80 hit in March 2008.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings remained unchanged at a
record 1,124.99 tonnes as of March 26. []
For details on the gold holdings of the ETF listed in New
York and co-listed on other exchanges, click on:
http://www.exchangetradedgold.com/iframes/usa.php
For a graphic, click on:
https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/MKTS_SPDRGLD240309.jpg
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its bullion holdings rose
116.49 tonnes or 1.4 percent from the previous day to a record
8,296.93 tonnes as of March 26. []
For a graphic, click on:
https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/CMD_SLVETF0309.jpg
"Record-high holdings of gold and silver by the major
metal-backed ETFs is evidence that investment demand remains
the supportive element for precious metals," said Toby Hassall,
an analyst at Commodity Warrants Australia.
Japan's Nikkei average was up 0.9 percent on Friday. []
The dollar eased against the euro and yen on Friday,
retreating from the previous day's rebound. []
Prices as of 0010 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 932.90 -0.15 -0.02 5.99
Spot Silver 13.48 0.02 +0.15 19.08
Spot Platinum 1142.00 1.00 +0.09 22.53
Spot Palladium 220.50 -0.50 -0.23 19.51
TOCOM Gold 2960.00 3.00 +0.10 15.04
19598
TOCOM Platinum 3646.00 27.00 +0.75 37.48
8875
TOCOM Silver 423.40 0.10 +0.02 32.60
94
TOCOM Palladium 715.00 20.00 +2.88 30.00
333
Euro/Dollar 1.3568
Dollar/Yen 98.31
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Michael
Urquhart)
