* Concerns about rising prices support gold
* U.S. housing data eyed for clues on sector's stability
* Holdings of SPDR gold ETF <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> unchanged
(Refiles to fix dropped date in dateline)
(Releads, updates prices)
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Gold inched down on Monday but
stayed within reach of a seven-week high as inflation fears
boosted bullion's appeal as a hedge against risk.
Gold <XAU=> was 0.3 percent lower at $928.05 per ounce at
1149 GMT, compared with $930.70 late in New York on Friday.
On Friday, bullion climbed to $933.65, its highest level in
seven weeks after data showed U.S. core inflation in April rose
more than expected.
Analysts said bullion was still an attractive hedge against
risk as economic recovery is yet to assert itself.
"The outlook for gold is a lot better than the outlook for
the U.S. economy," said Charles Kernot, mining analyst at
Evolution Securities. "There is still a lot of uncertainty in
terms of the outlook for the global economy...People are now
looking at it being a much slower recovery (than expected)."
Investors looking for further clues on the health of the
world's biggest economy will keep an eye on the U.S. National
Association of Home Builders' May housing market index, due at
1700 GMT.
Nevertheless, U.S. economic data on Friday offered some
evidence that the recession's worst phase could be over, with
April consumer price unchanged and industrial output declining
at a slower pace than in March. []
Kernot added that precious metals will be at the forefront
of investors' minds as Monday marks the start of London's annual
platinum week gathering.
PLATINUM EYED
Platinum rose 0.4 percent to bid at $1,105 <XPT=> an ounce
from $1,100.50 from Friday as traders anticipated the release of
Johnson Matthey's 2009 platinum report, offering price outlooks
and forecasts for demand and supply for platinum group metals.
Platinum usually gains ahead of platinum week, but dropped
nearly 4 percent last week in a market hounded by economic
uncertainty. Platinum group metals, which have industrial
end-uses, languished in 2008 due to carnage in the autos sector.
Palladium <XPD=> was at $224.50 from Friday's $222.50, while
silver <XAG=> bid at $13.80 an ounce from $13.93.
"For both platinum and palladium, the rapid ramp-up in ETF
holdings have slowed significantly. As with gold, we believe the
slowdown is due to the rally in equity prices since the middle of
March," Walter de Wet, a strategist at Standard Bank said in a
note.
Investors were hesitant to pile more money into gold,
keeping holdings at the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, unchanged at
1,105.62 tonnes as of May 15. []
(Editing by Editing by Keiron Henderson)
