* Spot gold up 0.6 percent at $918.30 per ounce <XAU=>
* Bullion takes support from dlr weakness, steadying shares
* ETF holdings stable; $885-$930 range eyed
(Adds quotes, updates prices, changes dateline from TOKYO)
By Veronica Brown
LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Tuesday with a
weaker dollar helping to prop up the metal's appeal as an
alternative asset, but failure to push beyond recent five-week
highs limited gains.
Spot gold stood at $918.30 per troy ounce by 0948 GMT <XAU=>
compared with New York's notional close of $912.60.
Bullion found support as the U.S. currency retreated against
a basket of major currencies <.DXY> -- making dollar-priced gold
cheaper for non-U.S. investors as investors latched on to the
traditional dollar-gold inverse correlation.
Further residual support also came as world shares, measured
by MSCI's all-country index, levelled off after hitting a
six-month high on Monday <.MIWD00000PUS>. Oil prices also moved
to a six-month high <CLc1>.
"Certainly the equity markets did back off on Monday and
profit-taking is around. I think there are concerns about how
long will the 'green shoots' go on," said Simon Weeks, director
of precious metals sales at Scotia Mocatta in London.
"I wouldn't expect us to break out of the broader $885-930
range at the moment -- in a thin market like this when the
dollar is weak then people look for gold to move higher," he
added.
Analysts have said gold prices are trapped between opposing
forces as its role as a hedge against economic uncertainty vies
with perceptions from some quarters that the global economic
downturn might be bottoming out.
"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 Louis Lok, a dealer
at Bank of China in Hong Kong.
ETF HOLDINGS STABLE
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> rose $5.60 to
$919.00 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. []
In other precious metals, silver stood at $14.20 an ounce
<XAG=> from $13.91 late in New York on Monday, while platinum
<XPT=> rose to 1,125.00 from $1,114.50 and palladium <XPD=> was
at $233.00 from $233.50.
Traders were cautious as the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
Japan's biggest commodity futures exchange, suspended trading of
all contracts earlier in Asian trading hours 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.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda in Tokyo; editing by Sue
Thomas)
