* Summer holidays curb trade, gold lacks clear momentum
* SPDR Gold holdings steady <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady above $940
an ounce on Thursday, underpinned by light physical buying, but
the topside was capped by firmness in the dollar, which makes the
precious metal expensive for investors holding other currencies.
Trade was slow with many major players away on summer
vacation, and it could stay that way until after the U.S. Labor
Day holiday in early September, traders said.
Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $944.70 an ounce as of 0526 GMT,
up marginally from New York's notional close of $944.10.
It hit a one-week high of $957.65 on Friday, but has since
come under pressure as the dollar gained ground amid caution over
the global economy, tempering demand from such countries as
India.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were nearly
flat at $946.30 an ounce after falling 20 cents to $945.80 on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
"There's a small amount of physical buying in the low $940s,
but nothing dramatic. That's why prices have got stuck here,"
said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scotia Mocatta in Hong Kong.
"I suspect that will remain the case until after the U.S.
Labor Day holiday when most people, including fund managers,
return from their holidays," he said.
He added that gold could be caught in a range between $935
and $955 in coming days, focusing mainly on the currency and
equity markets for near-term direction.
"It seems that gold doesn't really have its own momentum to
move anywhere."
In the currency market, the dollar held onto broad gains on
Thursday as investor fatigue towards riskier assets like stocks
set in, while there were concerns that China's plan to curb
redundant investment could dent Chinese shares. []
Investors tend to buy the dollar and yen as safe havens or
unwind trades in higher-yielding assets financed with the U.S.
and Japanese currencies when recovery optimism fades.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, stayed unchanged at 1,061.83
tonnes on Wednesday from the previous business day. []
Among other precious metals, platinum <XPT=> was little
changed, hovering below the previous day's high of $1,249.50 an
ounce marked after news of a strike at Impala Platinum's <IMPJ.J>
Rustenberg mine in South Africa.
South Africa's biggest union later said the strike at the
world's No.2 platinum producer's biggest mine may spread to the
entire company after wage talks broke down. []
Platinum stood at $1,230 per ounce, compared with New York's
notional close of $1,232.
Precious metals prices at 0540 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 944.65 0.55 +0.06 7.33
Spot Silver 14.23 -0.07 -0.49 25.71
Spot Platinum 1227.50 -4.50 -0.37 31.71
Spot Palladium 282.50 -1.50 -0.53 53.12
TOCOM Gold 2855.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A
TOCOM Platinum 3713.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A
TOCOM Silver 428.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A
TOCOM Palladium 858.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Euro/Dollar 1.4239
Dollar/Yen 93.62
Distant August TOCOM futures contracts started trading on
Thursday. 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 Chikako Mogi; Editing by Joseph
Radford)
