* Gold closes down as dollar rises against euro
* Seen holding at $1,400 unless more "black swans" emerge
(Recasts; updates prices and market activity)
By Carole Vaporean and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Monday
as the dollar rose against the euro, and the precious metal
stayed lower even as the euro recovered in later trade because
traders said the European unit's strength seemed shaky.
"Unless there are more black swan events out there, I think
gold will struggle on the upside," said Simon Weeks, head of
precious metals trading at the Bank of Nova Scotia.
Spot gold <XAU=>, which reflects trading in bullion, was
bid at $1,418.65 by 5:15 p.m. EDT (1912 GMT), down from
$1,427.75 late in New York on Friday. It had recovered from a
session low of $1,409.95.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ1> fell $6.30 an
ounce to finish at $1,420.90 per ounce.
"We can fall back to $1,400, maybe even a bit below, and it
still looks good overall," said Nova Scotia's Weeks, adding
that there were still a lot of geopolitical and financial
market uncertainties to support gold.
Turmoil in the Middle East, Japan's chaotic environment in
the aftermath of its earthquake and renewed concerns about
unmanageable European sovereign debt were among factors
underpinning gold.
The precious metal rallied to a record of $1,447.40 an
ounce last week as violence in the Middle East and the euro
zone's sovereign debt concerns prompted risk-averse buying.
On Friday, a report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission showed speculators in gold and silver futures and
options increased their net long positions as prices rose last
week. []
"Gold's ascent has ... been relatively orderly and
volatility has remained relatively low despite higher spot
prices," UBS said in a note. "Given persistent global
uncertainties, we retain our one-month forecast at $1,450 as
gold should continue to fare well."
But the Swiss banking group was as cautious as Nova Scotia
in forecasting the upside potential for gold.
"Significant moves to the upside will require stronger
participation by investors," it said.
Silver <XAG=> also trimmed losses to trade at $37.10
announce in late business, just off $37.29 on Friday. The metal
rose 6.4 percent last week on gold's coat-tails, hitting its
highest since 1980 at $38.13 an ounce.
Among other precious metals, platinum <XPT=> pulled into
positive regions in late dealings, changing hands at around
$1,737 an ounce against $1,742.45 on Friday. Palladium <XPD=>
held near unchanged levels at around $743.
Prices at 5:33 p.m. EDT (2133 GMT):
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCJ1> 1419.90 -6.30 -0.4% -0.1%
US silver <SIK1> 37.088 0.039 0.0% 19.9%
US platinum <PLJ1> 1747.80 2.20 0.1% -1.7%
US palladium <PAM1> 745.70 -4.70 -0.6% -7.2%
Gold <XAU=> 1418.65 -9.10 -0.6% -0.1%
Silver <XAG=> 37.10 -0.19 -0.5% 20.2%
Platinum <XPT=> 1737.07 -5.38 -0.3% -1.7%
Palladium <XPD=> 743.00 -1.95 -0.3% -7.1%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1417.00 -3.00 -0.2% 0.5%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 36.62 -106.00 -2.8% 19.6%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1730.00 2.00 0.1% -0.1%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 742.00 2.00 0.3% -6.2%
(Additional reporting by Barani Krishnan in New York;
Editing by David Gregorio)
