SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Thursday, heading for a fourth day of successive gains, after
rising political tension in the Middle East buoyed bullion's
appeal as safe haven.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,374.64 an ounce
by 0025 GMT, after hitting a one-month high of $1,381.84 in the
previous session.
* U.S. gold futures were steady at $1,375.30.
* Political tension in the Middle East and North Africa
escalated, after Israel said a move by Iranian warships to
traverse the Suez Canal was a "provocation" and riot broke out
in Libya.
* U.S. core wholesale prices rose in January at their
fastest in more than two years, raising some concerns about
inflation, but economists said the recovery was too weak for a
big spike in consumer prices.
* Investors are waiting for a batch of data including
January's consumer prices and weekly jobless claims later in the
day, to assess the pace of the economic recovery.
* Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Silver
Trust both remained unchanged.
MARKET NEWS
* The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday to twice its value from just
two years ago, a bounce whose vigour has not been seen since the
Great Depression.
* The dollar index held steady on Thursday, after news that
Iranian warships were en route to Syria sparked a spike in oil
and a surge in traditional safe-haven currencies such as the
Swiss franc.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1330 U.S. Consumer Prices Jan 1330 U.S.
Unemployment claims Weekly 1500 U.S.
Leading indicators Jan
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PRICES
Precious metals prices 0025 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1374.64 0.44 +0.03 -3.16
Spot Silver 30.60 -0.03 -0.10 -0.84
Spot Platinum 1826.99 0.25 +0.01 3.37
Spot Palladium 836.47 -1.50 -0.18 4.62
TOCOM Gold 3704.00 -2.00 -0.05 -0.67 18793
TOCOM Platinum 4962.00 -7.00 -0.14 5.66 3572
TOCOM Silver 82.00 -0.40 -0.49 1.23 462
TOCOM Palladium 2257.00 2.00 +0.09 7.63 190
COMEX GOLD APR1 1375.30 0.20 +0.01 -3.24 921
COMEX SILVER MAR1 30.58 -0.05 -0.16 -1.16 572
Euro/Dollar 1.3572
Dollar/Yen 83.56
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Reporting By Rujun Shen)
Reuters
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