* May test downside after recent failures to top $920/oz
* Holdings by SPDR gold ETF <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> unchanged
* TOCOM resumes trading for last 30 mins of day after
glitch
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed on
Tuesday, taking a breather a day after paring a 3 percent gain
made last week on a rebound in the dollar, while declines in
global stock markets underpinned its allure as a safe-haven
asset.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average <> fell 1.6 percent after
hitting a six-month closing high the previous day, while the
dollar edged down against a basket of currencies towards
Monday's four-month low but held firm versus the euro.
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If another sell-off hits U.S. stocks later in the day and
boosts the dollar's appeal to investors, as it did on Monday,
gold could test $900 because of its failure to rise decisively
above $920 in the past weeks, analysts said.
"The market doesn't have enough confidence to break this
resistance" at the $918-$920 level that has been capping gold
since late April, said Louis Lok, a dealer at Bank of China in
Hong Kong.
"Now gold could go under $900," he said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $913.20 an ounce at 0605 GMT, up
0.1 percent from New York's notional close of $912.60.
On Monday it fell about 0.4 percent as the dollar rebounded
from a four-month low against a basket of currencies <.DXY>,
making dollar-priced bullion pricier for non-U.S. investors.
"The market has lost appetite for safe-haven buying of gold
recently because of the fact that the investment market
situation has stabilised ... The (negative) correlation with
the U.S. dollar has been stronger than before," said Bank of
China's Lok.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> edged up $1.1 or
0.1 percent to $914.6 per ounce after settling down $1.40 on
Monday 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 holdings stood at 1,104.09 tonnes
as of May 11, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
Traders were cautious as the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
Japan's biggest commodity futures exchange, suspended trading
of all contracts between 11:35 a.m. (0235 GMT) and 3 p.m. (0600
GMT) due to system trouble. []
It was the first glitch since the exchange launched a new
trading platform on May 7, which saw it extend trading hours
and introduce a circuit breaker system in an attempt to lure
back investors and restore the market's shrinking liquidity.
The exchange is investigating the cause of the problem and
it is not known whether it will reopen for a scheduled night
session on Tuesday, a TOCOM spokesman said.
Key TOCOM gold futures for April 2010 delivery stood down
45 yen at 2,871 yen per gram, little changed from 2,868 yen
just before the exchange suspended trading.
Precious metals prices at 0614 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 913.50 0.90 +0.10 9.70
Spot Silver 13.88 -0.03 -0.22 -6.03
Spot Platinum 1118.00 3.50 +0.31 -26.45
Spot Palladium 233.50 0.00 +0.00 -36.55
TOCOM Gold 2871.00 -45.00 -1.54 -6.18
19927
TOCOM Platinum 3528.00 -105.00 -2.89 -33.92
9335
TOCOM Silver 430.60 -9.80 -2.23 -20.41
162
TOCOM Palladium 751.00 -31.00 -3.96 -44.41
299
Euro/Dollar 1.3625
Dollar/Yen 97.23
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 Chikako Mogi; Editing by Ben Tan)
