(Adds and updates prices)
TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - Gold hardly budged on Wednesday,
taking a breather after falling sharply the previous day on a
stronger dollar.
Traders said investor selling has run out of steam for now
since gold showed resilience at around $860 an ounce late on
Tuesday, but sentiment was too weak to turn prices around.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $866.00/866.80 an ounce as of 0323
GMT, compared with $866.55/867.95 late on Tuesday in New York.
"The market is at standstill," said Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst
at Kanetsu Asset Management, adding that gold is expected to hold
in the recent range between $850 and $890.
"It is unlikely that sentiment will sour further after a
heavy sell-off recently. But if the $850 level, which is also
psychologically important, is broken through, that could prompt a
fall to $820 and even to $800," he said.
On Tuesday gold briefly slipped as low as $860.90, a one-week
trough, as the dollar rallied broadly after April U.S. retail
sales data came in stronger than expected, fuelling optimism
about the U.S. economy.
The dollar held at 104.72 yen by midday in Tokyo, little
changed from the level in late U.S. trading on Tuesday.
The euro slipped 0.1 percent to $1.5455 <EUR=>.
Market players are awaiting the U.S. consumer price index for
April due later on Wednesday for further clues on whether the Fed
will pause cutting interest rates at its next policy meeting in
June. []
NYMEX crude for June delivery <CLc1> was down 1 cent a barrel
at $125.79. It had surged to a record high near $127 on Tuesday
after a report that OPEC producer Iran said it was mulling a
proposal to cut production.
Gold, usually seen by investors as a hedge against inflation,
often moves in line with oil prices.
But analysts said gold has been too dull to react to a rally
in the oil market, partly reflecting far less buying interest by
speculators in gold than in oil.
The most active June gold futures contract <GCM8> on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $3.2 to
$866.4 an ounce.
Yen-based gold futures for distant April delivery <0#JAU:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange was unchanged at 2,942 yen a gram.
Spot platinum <XPT=> stood at $2,036/2,046 an ounce, little
changed from around $2,037.50 in New York, when the white metal
fell sharply in line with a slide in gold.
Palladium <XPD=> was $430.50/438.50 an ounce, unchanged from
late New York. Silver <XAG=> was at $16.64/16.70 an ounce, down
slightly from $16.66/16.72 in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0322 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 866.00 0.50 +0.06 4.00
Spot Silver 16.66 0.01 +0.06 12.80
Spot Platinum 2036.00 -3.50 -0.17 33.95
Spot Palladium 430.50 0.00 +0.00 16.98
TOCOM Gold 2942.00 0.00 +0.00 -3.86 9192
TOCOM Platinum 6655.00 -21.00 -0.31 24.65 7653
TOCOM Silver 568.10 -6.50 -1.13 5.01 327
TOCOM Palladium 1487.00 -3.00 -0.20 10.07 434
Euro/Dollar 1.5464
Dollar/Yen 104.59
(Reporting by Risa Maeda)
