* Gold rises in thin trade, seen consolidating
* For the technical outlook on gold, click on
[] * Coming Up: U.S. April producer prices;
1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, May 18 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Tuesday but
held around $20 below a lifetime high struck last week, while
another increase in holdings in the world's largest gold-backed
ETF showed investors were keeping faith with the metal.
Bullion, which has gained around 11 percent this year, was
consolidating at current levels before charging higher again,
with dealers expecting the euro to resume its downtrend because
of the euro zone's fiscal woes.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,224.40 an ounce by 0318 GMT, up
$1.40 from New York's notional close on Monday. Bullion hit a
record of $1,248.95 on Friday on fears that euro zone austerity
measures could trigger a downturn in the region.
"The consolidation in the euro is a short-term trend. I do
expect the euro to continue to weaken, and correspondingly,
gold will strengthen," said Wong Eng Soon, investment analyst
at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"I think we are obviously looking at what governments do to
rein in the budget deficits."
Gold priced in euro <XAUEUR=R> and sterling <XAUGBP=R> held
near all-time highs.
For a graphic showing the technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101805091656.jpg
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P> rose to another record
at 1,217.108 tonnes as investors sought safety from volatile
currencies blamed on fears Europe's $1-trillion rescue package
could fail. []
Some prominent hedge fund managers, including investor
George Soros, raised stakes in financial stocks in the first
quarter, with Soros trimming his holding in the SPDR Gold Trust
by about 10 percent, although he continued to hold a sizeable
stake of 5.6 million shares, worth almost $607 million, by the
end of the quarter. []
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> fell $2.1 an
ounce to $1,226 an ounce, pausing for breath after recent
highs.
"It is evident that the search for safe havens is driving
investors to gold. New highs in ETF stocks and a strong demand
for physical gold in the form of investment bars point to such
a development," Heraeus Precious Metals said in a report.
"In the coming days and weeks no change in the basically
positive mood is to be expected, even if time and again a
correction phase is seen. On the charts the yellow metal has a
lot of room upwards and on the other side the first significant
support is at $1,185 an ounce."
The euro slipped to $1.2376 <EUR=> on Tuesday, having
pulled up from a four-year trough of $1.2234 hit on trading
platform EBS on Monday. []
A 750-billion euro ($1 trillion) bailout package from the
European Union and the International Monetary Fund aimed at
shoring up euro zone bond markets has done little to ease
concerns Greece's debt crisis could spread to other similarly
indebted countries such as Spain and Portugal.
Platinum <XPT=> and palladium <XPD=> barely changed
following news that new European car sales fell for the first
time in 10 months in April. []
But precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey was upbeat on
the metals, saying that rising investment might take platinum
to $2,000 an ounce in the next six months while palladium could
hit levels not seen since 2001. []
Precious metals prices at 0318 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1224.40 1.40 +0.11 11.75
Spot Silver 18.83 0.08 +0.43 11.88
Spot Platinum 1679.00 13.00 +0.78 14.45
Spot Palladium 502.50 -1.50 -0.30 23.92
TOCOM Gold 3648.00 -26.00 -0.71 11.94
36263
TOCOM Platinum 5014.00 -51.00 -1.01 14.45
17557
TOCOM Silver 56.40 -0.90 -1.57 9.09
461
TOCOM Palladium 1490.00 -32.00 -2.10 27.90
601
Euro/Dollar 1.2328
Dollar/Yen 92.40
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
