* Silver headed for biggest monthly rise since May 2009
* Spot gold to consolidate -technicals
* Coming up: U.S. GDP Q4; 1330 GMT
(Adds detail, comment; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady above
$1,400 on Friday, headed for its fourth consecutive week of
gains, as investors kept close watch on the situation in Libya
and the energy market.
Oil prices held steady, after a roller coaster ride up to
2-1/2 year highs and down in the previous session on talk that
top oil exporter Saudi Arabia might pump up production and a
rumor that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had been killed.
"The gold market is still very much influenced by unrest in
the Middle East and North Africa," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst
at Phillip Futures. "The spotlight remains on the region. If
tension escalates, we could see gold continue to push higher."
For the latest stories on the unrest in the region, click
Spot gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,404.30 an ounce
by 0341 GMT, headed for a one percent gain from a week earlier.
The most active U.S. gold futures contract lost 0.8
percent to $1,404.80.
Technical analysis shows that spot gold will consolidate
between $1,390 and $1,410 per ounce as the correction on
Thursday has temporarily violated its uptrend, said Reuters
market analyst Wang Tao.
For a 24-hr gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20112502094910.jpg
Some suspected the boost from the Middle East could last.
"Gold is likely to go through some consolidation, if not
correction," said Hou Xinqiang, an analyst at Jinrui Futures,
"The influence may ebb quickly if no big story breaks --
countries split up in violence or the region fell into complete
chaos."
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dipped to a nine-month low of
1,211.568 tonnes.
The holdings in the ETF were on course for its fifth
consecutive month of loss, after a hefty 54 tonne drop in
January.
"Beyond the Middle East crisis, if you look at the general
economic environment, it's actually quite optimistic," said Ong
of Phillip Futures.
The latest data showed new unemployment claims in the United
States fell last week, indicating an improving labour market,
although declines in new home sales and orders for a range of
factory goods in January showed the recovery remained uneven.
In the euro zone, economic sentiment jumped in February to
its highest level since the financial crisis.
Spot silver climbed 1.3 percent to $32.52, headed for
its biggest monthly rise since May 2009, at 16 percent.
Holdings in the world's largest physically backed
exchange-traded fund, rose to a six-week high of 10,666.35
tonnes.
Spot palladium , which led the precious metals complex
last year with a dazzling 97 percent annual gain, gained 0.7
percent to $776.72. It was headed for an eight-percent weekly
decline, its sharpest since early July.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Reuters
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