* Investors take profits after record, sentiment bullish
* SPDR inches closer to record high holdings
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Tuesday as
investors took profits from the previous day's record high, but
sentiment was underpinned by a weak dollar.
Traders said gold may slide as low as $1,145-$1,150 in a
near-term correction, but the market was bound to recover given
supportive factors such as the weak dollar, expectations for
low U.S. interest rates and bullish sentiment after gold
purchases by some central banks.
Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday
on Monday.
"Gold is facing profit-taking as it needed some correction
after hitting record highs in recent weeks," said a
Singapore-based trader.
Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong
Kong, said people were buying on dips on expectation that gold
would remain high.
"People are still hopeful...central banks will buy, and
they don't want to sell their gold," he said.
He was referring to India's purchase of 200 tonnes of gold
from the International Monetary Fund, disclosed this month,
which helped trigger gold's rise to successive highs.
Spot gold <XAU=> fell as much as 0.7 percent to $1,157.35
per ounce before recovering to $1,163.60 as of 0647 GMT, down
0.2 percent. It hit an all-time high of $1,173.50 on Monday.
Gold has jumped 32 percent this year, rising 12 percent in
November alone.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> eased as
much as 0.6 percent to $1,157.70 per ounce before trading at
$1,164.00, slightly below the $1,164.70 close on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures hit a
record high $1,174.00 on Monday.
Gold's rally has largely been led by funds, and other
investors have been drawn into the market despite wariness
about high prices.
Speculative positions dipped, with noncommercial net long
U.S. gold futures positions easing 1 percent to 235,697 lots in
the week to Nov. 17 from 238,060, a weekly report by the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed. []
Holdings at the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, rising 3.964 tonnes or 0.4 percent
from the previous business day to 1,121.457 tonnes as of Nov.
23. The rise brought the holdings closer to a record high of
1,134.03 tonnes hit on June 1. []
The dollar remained pressured on Tuesday after falling the
previous day against a basket of major currencies, when remarks
by senior Federal Reserve official James Bullard reinforced
views that U.S. interest rates will stay low for a while.
Revived investor risk appetite on a rally in U.S. stocks,
strong U.S. housing data and higher commodity prices also
pressured the dollar. []
Other precious metals were also off Monday's multi-month
highs, dragged lower by gold's retreat from record highs.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,449 per ounce after hitting
$1,473.50 on Monday, its highest since September 2008, while
silver <XAG=> stood at $18.45, off $18.91 hit on Monday, its
highest since July 2008.
Precious metals prices at 0645 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1163.30 -2.55 -0.22 32.17
Spot Silver 18.46 -0.13 -0.70 63.07
Spot Platinum 1448.00 -6.50 -0.45 55.36
Spot Palladium 367.50 -1.50 -0.41 99.19
TOCOM Gold 3338.00 58.00 +1.77 29.73
76135
TOCOM Platinum 4144.00 24.00 +0.58 56.26
15351
TOCOM Silver 531.60 1.70 +0.32 66.49
425
TOCOM Palladium 1063.00 11.00 +1.05 93.27
241
Euro/Dollar 1.4928
Dollar/Yen 88.71
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 Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Michael
Urquhart)
((chikako.mogi@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1871; Reuters
Messaging: chikako.mogi.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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