TOKYO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied on Wednesday
after snapping a three-session winning streak the day before when
the dollar's rise curbed bullion's appeal as a currency
alternative.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> stood at $1,096.85 per ounce, compared to
New York's notional close of $1,096.55 per ounce.
* Spot gold had tumbled to a seven-week low of $1,074.10 an
ounce last week before the holiday break.
* U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG0> were at
$1,098.00 an ounce, compared to $1,098.10 an ounce on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings rose to 1,133.622 tonnes as
of Dec. 29, up 0.08 percent or 0.914 tonnes from the previous
business day. The holdings are slightly below a record high of
1,134.03 tonnes on June 1. []
* Investor sentiment remained bullish for platinum group
metals after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took a
step on Dec. 22 that brought the first U.S. platinum exchange
traded fund closer to final approval. []
* After falling on profit taking on Tuesday, platinum and
palladium <XPT=> stood at $1,465 ounce against $1,462.00, while
palladium <XPD=> was at $384.50 against $385.50.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks edged down in a low-volume session on Tuesday,
breaking a six-day run of gains as investors found little reason
to push stocks higher as the end of the year approached. Data
showing a rise in consumer confidence was offset by a housing
report pointing to more bumps in the road. []
* The dollar held gains on Wednesday after rising against
most major currencies the day before, climbing to a two-month
peak versus the yen, boosted by a report showing a rise in U.S.
consumer confidence this month. Some traders also attributed the
dollar's gains to year-end buying by asset managers as they
square off their positions, with flows going mostly into U.S.
Treasuries. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday: <ECON>
- Euro zone M3 and private loans for November. (0900 GMT)
- Weekly U.S. mortgage market index. (1200 GMT)
- U.S. Chicago PMI for December. (1445 GMT)
- Kansas City Fed survey for December. (1600 GMT)
RELATED NEWS
>Gold falls below $1,100/oz as dollar rallies []
>US consumer confidence up, house prices stall[]
>Commods slip as dollar rebound offsets supply woes[]
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 2345 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1096.20 -$0.35 -0.03% -5.33% $1141.27 42
Spot silver $17.11 $0.03 +0.18% -5.89% $17.94 41
Spot plat $1465.00 $3.00 +0.21% -0.95% $1447.86 59
COMEX gold $1097.60 -$0.40 -0.04% -0.93% $1143.23 40
TOCOM gold 3,276 3 +0.09% -0.49% 3,285 53
TOCOM plat 4,358 -14 -0.32% -0.32% 4,170 73
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.435 $0.000 +0.01% -0.26%
Dlr/yen 91.96 -0.04 -0.04% +0.40%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
