TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Thursday after a
weaker dollar helped push the precious metal above $1,000 an
ounce the previous day for the first time since Sept. 24.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,007.05 an ounce at 0013 GMT,
almost flat from the notional close in New York of $1,006.70.
* Bullion rose 8.7 percent in the three months to September,
its strongest quarterly performance since it rose 9.9 percent in
the January-March period in 2008.
* It hit an 18-month high of $1,023.85 an ounce on Sept. 17,
just a few dollars shy of the March 2008 record high of
$1,030.80.
* It fell below $985 earlier this week. But gold got a boost
from a sliding dollar on Wednesday as investors put cash to work
after U.S. data suggested the world's biggest economy was
recovering from recession. []
* U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$1,008.60. On Wednesday the contract rose $14.90, or 1.5 percent,
to $1,009.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings rose 1.22 tonnes to
1,095.327 tonnes on Wednesday. []
* India's gold imports in September provisionally fell 30
percent, the smallest year-on-year decline in five months as
steady prices and the festival season attracted more buyers in
the world's biggest consumer. []
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar was on the defensive on Thursday, having resumed
its downtrend in the previous session as investors sold the
greenback and went long on growth-linked currencies like the
Australian dollar. []
* Japan's Nikkei share average <> was up 0.3 percent.
[]
* U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after a surprising
contraction in an index of Midwest business activity, but buying
of technology bellwethers like Cisco Systems Inc at the end of a
strong quarter limited losses. []
* Oil prices surged more than 5 percent to settle above $70 a
barrel on Wednesday, buoyed by a drop in U.S. gasoline
inventories last week that hinted a rising demand in the world's
largest energy consumer. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday: <ECON>
- Japan Aug retail sales (2350 GMT)
- Japan tankan survey for July-Sept (2350 GMT)
- China NBS PMI for Sept (0100 GMT)
- India ABN Amro manufacturing PMI (0430 GMT)
- IMF releases world manufacturing PMI (0630 GMT)
- Euro zone Sept final manufacturing PMI (0758 GMT)
- Euro zone Aug unemployment (0900 GMT)
- Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1230 GMT)
- U.S. personal income/spending for Sept (1230 GMT)
- Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies (1300 GMT)
- U.S. construction spending for Aug (1400 GMT)
- U.S. ISM for Sept (1400 GMT)
- U.S. pending home sales for Aug (1400 GMT)
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>Mexico copper, silver output down in July []
>Higher gold prices help diamond sales in India []
>Russia Polymetal H1 09 net profit $19 mln []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0010
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1006.90 $0.20 +0.02% +12.25% $860.10 61
Spot silver $16.69 $0.10 +0.60% +39.32% $11.29 58
Spot plat $1294.00 -$1.50 -0.12% +2.13% $1288.47 52
TOCOM gold 2,919 31 +1.07% +1.32% 2,922 49
TOCOM plat 3,755 68 +1.84% +1.46% 3,778 47
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.465 $0.007 +0.49% +0.24%
Dlr/yen 89.82 -0.27 -0.30% +0.25%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced
in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
