* Gold about $5 from record high
* Australian dollar bid before widely expected rate hike
* Near term US dollar direction awaits the Fed
* IMF sells gold to India for $6.8 billion
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar slid on
Tuesday, especially against Asian currencies, pushing gold
prices near record highs, while stock markets were steady ahead
of several big central bank meetings this week.
The Australian dollar rose, staying above $0.90 <AUD=>
ahead of a decision on interest rates at 0330 GMT. Most dealers
were expecting a quarter percentage point increase in the base
rate, though the risk loomed of a more aggressive move.
Housing prices are on a tear in Australia, similar to other
parts of Asia, keeping monetary authorities increasingly
willing to take action to prevent bubbles. []
Evidence of a sustained recovery in world industrial
activity may force policymakers to spell out the pace at which
unusually abundant and cheap money will be withdrawn.
[]
The euro was up 0.2 percent to $1.4798 <EUR=>. The bout of
profit taking that lasted for a week appeared to have run its
course, leaving the euro in a rising but narrowing trading
channel.
The resumption of U.S. dollar weakness prompted traders to
scoop up some bargains. The Australian dollar rose 0.4 percent
to $0.9070, still off a 14-month high above $0.93 hit in
October.
The Federal Reserve will kick off a two-day policy meeting
on Tuesday, after which it is expected to keep rates unchanged.
However, there is a chance the Fed will drop language on
keeping rates low for an extended period of time.
[]
"We do not expect that to happen, so the dollar should
resume its trend downwards to the end of this year," said John
Horner, foreign exchange strategist at Deutsche Bank in Sydney.
In equity markets, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks
outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was largely steady, with gains in
utilities and consumer discretionary stocks offsetting declines
in financials.
The Thomson Reuters index of regional stocks <.TRXFLDAXPU>
was up 0.9 percent.
Japan's market was shut because of a public holiday.
Gold rose half a percent <XAU=> in the spot market to
$1,064.55 an ounce. The record intraday high was $1,070.40 hit
on October 14. Gold is up 21 percent this year, and will likely
keep its record of not having a down year since 2000.
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it sold 200
tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.8 billion,
quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that had
threatened to slow gold's rally. []
While the IMF's plan to sell some of its gold holdings had
been flagged for a year before it was formally approved in
September, the speed of the deal and the buyer were a surprise
for traders, who had expected China -- not India -- to be the
leading contender as Beijing diversifies its vast reserves.
"The fact that they've sold the gold to India would suggest
there's going to be fewer official sales by the IMF on the
market. So that might be a positive theme for the gold price,"
said David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank
of Australia.
This was the first time since 2000 that the IMF sold gold
to a central bank.
U.S. oil futures were essentially unchanged and remained
above $78 a barrel. Crude's break of $80 ran out of steam in
November, though near-term direction is largely pinned on the
U.S. dollar.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in SYDNEY; Editing by Jan
Dahinten)
