* Gold around $1,200; safe haven need dwindles after EU
plan
* Markets soothed by EU fund pledge, but details still thin
* Coming Up; OECD March leading indicator: 1000 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Nick Trevethan
SINGAPORE, May 10 (Reuters) - Gold fell more than half a
percent on Monday, trading just below $1,200 an ounce, as
investors weighed whether a half a trillion euro plan could
safeguard euro zone sovereign debt from default.
European Union finance ministers agreed on Monday on emergency
measures worth 500 billion euros ($670 billion) to prevent
Greece's debt crisis causing turmoil in other euro zone
countries.
The measures are worth much more than any previous attempts
by the 27-country EU or the 16-state single-currency group to
calm what one minister described as the "wolfpack" of the
financial markets.
That sent the dollar down 1 percent against a basket of
currencies <.DXY> as the euro rallied, but it was not enough to
completely put investor worries to rest.
"Equities markets have gone crazy. We are up 2 percent in
Australia with this collective sigh of relief about the EU
plan. But we are still digesting," said Jonathan Barratt,
managing director of Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
"The risk remains of contagion, but I think once Europe
opens we'll see gold get smacked. The EU has finally gotten
ahead of the market and done something. They realise contagion
would be catastrosphic and 500 billion euros is a start."
From a technical perspective, spot gold <XAU=> could
retrace towards $1,185.28 or $1,178.65 -- the 50 and 61.8
percent Fibonacci retracement levels of the move from $1,157.20
to $1,213.35.
For a graphic, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101005092829.jpg
Spot gold <XAU=> tumbled more than $18 to a low of $1,195.20
an ounce from Friday's five month high of $1,213.35, according
to Reuters data. At 0320 GMT, gold was quoted at $1,198.90 an
ounce.
U.S. June gold futures <GCM0> on the COMEX division of the
NYMEX stood at $1,199.20 an ounce versus Friday's settlement of
$1,210.40 an ounce.
"The market has been focused on euro zone plans for Greece
and the early reaction was positive for riskier assets. This
will mean a slowing in the surge in gold," Barclays Capital
analyst Yingxi Yu said.
But she added the market still wanted more clarity on the
plans and beyond the short, gold was likely to remain well
supported.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at a record high of
1,188.498 tonnes as of May 7, from 1,185.787 tonnes in the
previous business day. []
For a graphic, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/GLD_SPDR0510.gif
Platinum <XPT=> and palladium <XPD=> both rose more than 1
percent or more, following last week's falls of of 4.8 and 7.5
percent respectively.
"Platinum remains one of our favoured markets withing
commodities," Yu said.
"Fundamentals are constructive -- problems on the supply
side are not fully appreciated by the market. Demand is strong
... and we expect the market to perform well over the coming
months."
Precious metals prices at 0320 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1198.90 -8.85 -0.73 9.42
Spot Silver 18.33 0.03 +0.16 8.91
Spot Platinum 1675.00 18.50 +1.12 14.18
Spot Palladium 518.25 8.25 +1.62 27.81
TOCOM Gold 3577.00 7.00 +0.20 9.76
63824
TOCOM Platinum 5010.00 86.00 +1.75 14.36
18184
TOCOM Silver 55.10 2.30 +4.36 6.58
584
TOCOM Palladium 1537.00 72.00 +4.91 31.93
613
Euro/Dollar 1.2930
Dollar/Yen 92.53
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
