* Gold hovers around $950 on steady oil
* SPDR holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> slip
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, July 22 (Reuters) - Gold steadied below $950 on
Wednesday, buoyed by firm oil prices that could signal inflation
and spur buying of the precious metal as a hedge.
Bullion ended a touch lower on Tuesday after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed to fight inflation.
Buying of the precious metal as an inflation hedge had sent
bullion rising towards $1,000 in June after central banks around
the world pumped massive liquidity into financial markets to
battle the worst economic crisis in decades.
Gold <XAU=> was at $949.40 per ounce at 0532 GMT, up 0.01
percent from the notional New York close of $948.15.
Shuji Sugata, a manager at Japan's Mitsubishi Corp Futures &
Securities, said crude oil was currently a key factor in
providing gold with direction.
"We've seen crude oil climb almost daily and before we knew
it it had topped $60, which has been a positive factor for gold,"
he said.
"Now whether crude oil challenges $70 ... will also be key to
whether gold will rise towards its recent high near $990," Sugata
said.
Bullion rose to $989.80 on June 3, its highest since Feb. 24.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> continued to hold around $65 a barrel
on Wednesday although it fell after industry data showed a
surprise increase in domestic crude stockpiles. []
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ9> were $949.3
per ounce, up 0.3 percent from the previous day's settlement.
The euro slipped 0.15 percent to $1.4206 <EUR=>, after
touching $1.4278 on trading platform EBS the previous day, its
highest since June 3. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings fell to 1,092.41 tonnes as
of July 21, down 2.13 tonnes or 0.2 percent from the previous
business day. []
Holdings are now down more than 3 percent from the record
1,134.03 tonnes reported on June 1.
Gold producers in South Africa, a major producer of gold and
platinum, raised a pay offer for miners on Tuesday, averting a
possible strike for now, mineworkers unions said. []
In other industry news, Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J>, the world's
second-largest platinum producer, shut three shafts and part of
another one at its Rustenburg mine in South Africa after an
accident killed nine workers. []
Platinum was up 0.3 percent to trade at $1,172.50 per ounce.
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0540 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 949.25 1.10 +0.12 7.85
Spot Silver 13.59 0.05 +0.37 20.05
Spot Platinum 1177.50 8.50 +0.73 26.34
Spot Palladium 253.00 -0.50 -0.20 37.13
TOCOM Gold 2866.00 -11.00 -0.38 11.39 26288
TOCOM Platinum 3561.00 -42.00 -1.17 34.28 9558
TOCOM Silver 409.90 -5.30 -1.28 28.37 153
TOCOM Palladium 773.00 0.00 +0.00 40.55 305
Euro/Dollar 1.4200
Dollar/Yen 93.61
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 Michael
Watson)
