* Firmer dollar pressures commodities lower
* Largest gold ETF reports fresh 2.13-tonne outflow
(Updates throughout, changes dateline-pvs TOKYO)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower in
Europe on Wednesday as an uptick in the dollar pressured
commodity markets, and after the world's largest bullion-backed
exchange-traded fund recorded a further outflow.
The fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, has sold nearly
39 tonnes of gold back onto the market in the last four weeks,
equal to almost 3.5 percent of its total holdings. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $945.90 an ounce at 0921 GMT,
against $948.15 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday. U.S. gold
futures for August delivery <GCQ9> on the COMEX division of the
New York Mercantile Exchange eased 80 cents to $946.10 an ounce.
Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet said $960 an ounce was
proving to be a major resistance level for gold prices."I would
look towards the dollar for any major moves in gold," he said.
"Our view for currencies is that the euro will reach $1.50
towards the end of the year. If that is going to be the case, I
don't think $960 is going to hold as a strong resistance."
The dollar <.DXY> firmed a touch against a basket of
currencies on Tuesday, recouping losses from earlier in the
session after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said U.S.
interest rates would stay low for some time. []
Bernanke will repeat his testimony before the Senate Banking
Committee at 1400 GMT, and will subsequently take questions.
An uptick in the U.S. currency weighed on dollar-priced
commodities as it made them more expensive for holders of other
currencies. Oil fell below $65 a barrel, pressured by a surprise
rise in U.S. crude stocks, and base metals eased. [] []
On the wider markets, equities slipped at the open in
Europe, breaking a seven-day winning streak that has buoyed
appetite for assets seen as higher risk. []
SOFT DEMAND
Physical demand for gold remained soft, with a 2.13 tonne
outflow from the SPDR ETF following a near 13,000 dip in the
holdings of ETF Securities' Physical Gold ETF <PHAU.L>.
Jewellery demand in India, the world's largest gold
consumer, remained slack as buyers awaited lower prices, while
jewellers in Thailand cashed in their bullion on Wednesday after
prices broke through $950 an ounce.
Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong
Kong, said buying had been muted since gold's rise to five-week
highs earlier this week. "Maybe people think the stock market is
more attractive," he said. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> was at $13.42 an
ounce against $13.54, platinum <XPT=> was at $1,160 an ounce
against $1,169, and palladium <XPD=> was at $250.50 against
$253.50.
Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J>, the world's number two platinum
miner, closed three shafts and part of another at its Rustenburg
mine in South Africa after an accident killed nine workers.
[]
"The National Union of Mineworkers is calling for Implat's
entire operations to be shut down and investigated," said
Fairfax analyst John Meyer in a note.
"Should industrial action follow, then there could be some
impact to platinum prices due to supply disruptions."
Elsewhere in South Africa, gold producers raised their pay
offer for miners on Tuesday, averting possible strike action for
now, according to the mineworkers' union. []
South Africa was the world's third largest gold producer
last year after China and the United States, according to metals
consultancy GFMS.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Peter Blackburn)
