* SDPR Gold Trust holdings up for first time since late June
* Euro directionless ahead of Greece debt auction
* Coming up: U.S. May international trade: 1230 GMT
* For technicals on gold, click []
TOKYO, July 13 (Reuters) - Gold clawed back near $1,200 per
ounce on Tuesday on light physical buying, but further gains
were capped by investor caution ahead of the earnings season and
firmness in the dollar.
Holdings by the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, rose for the first time since
late June, but the minor volume increase suggested that there
would be no imminent return by investors, analysts said.
Spot gold <XAU=> inched up $4.10 to $1,198.95 an ounce by
0303 GMT. It earlier cleared above $1,200, albeit briefly.
"Inflows of investor money have come down substantially,"
said Naomi Suzuki, senior economist at Sumitomo Shojji Research
Institute.
"There's some physical buying detected. But that's in
individual countries rather than across the region," she said.
Technically, spot gold is neutral. Last week, the market
confirmed firm resistance below the 50-day moving average, which
on Tuesday stood at around $1,218.
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On Friday, spot gold hit a one-week high around $1,213 an
ounce, still well below a lifetime high of $1,264.90 struck in
late June.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> were steady at
$1,199.30 an ounce. On Monday, the contract dropped $11.10 to
close at $1,198.70.
The euro was little changed and well below two-month peaks
against the dollar, as investors hesitated to go long on the
single currency and risk large short U.S. dollar positions
during the U.S. earnings season. []
Investors are also watching out for the euro ahead of
Greece's planned return to capital markets later in the day.
The debt-laden country plans to auction six-month Treasury
bills on Tuesday, its first sortie into debt markets since it
secured the bailout in early May. []
Gold prices hit record highs in late June as concern over
European sovereign debt levels and instability in the broader
financial markets helped a boom in safe-haven investment.
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P> said its holdings rose to 1,314.819
tonnes as of Monday, up 0.304 tonnes from the previous business
day. That marked the first rise since holdings retreated from a
record 1,320.436 tonnes marked in late June. []
Among other precious metals, spot platinum <XPT=> edged up
to $1,513 per ounce from New York's notional close of $1,512.
Any gains in the white metal have recently been blocked by
the 200-day moving average, which stood at around $1,532.
Precious metals prices at 0314 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1198.95 4.10 0.34 9.42
Spot Silver 17.89 0.03 0.17 6.30
Spot Platinum 1512.00 0.00 0.00 3.07
Spot Palladium 455.25 3.25 0.72 12.27
TOCOM Gold 3428 -34.00 -0.98 5.19 23787
TOCOM Platinum 4341 -43.00 -0.98 -0.91 8713
TOCOM Silver 52 -0.40 -0.77 0.00 217
TOCOM Palladium 1305 -6.00 -0.46 12.02 108
Euro/Dollar 1.2590
Dollar/Yen 88.6300
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Joseph Radford)
