* Gold hardly moves in thin Asian trade ahead of holiday
* Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust hit new record
* Dollar firms against majors, Nikkei down 2.8 pct
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Gold steadied around $850 on
Friday after rising in New York, supported by investment demand
on safe-haven buying driven by chaos in the banking sector.
Holdings at the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, jumped 13.15 tonnesto 819.11
tonnes by Jan. 22 -- the third increase this week. []
"ETF turnover is increasing day by day. Gold is getting
stronger, owing to actual money coming back into the market,"
said Yukuji Sonoda, precious metals analyst at Daiichi
Commodities in Tokyo.
For a graphic showing SPDR gold holdings versus gold
prices, click on:
https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/MKTS_SPDRGLD0109.jpg
"The next target is $900," said Sonoda, referring to a
level last seen in early October.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $856.25 an ounce, up $0.70 from
New York's notional close on Thursday, when it defied a firm
U.S. dollar and gained almost 1 percent on investor jitters
about the banking sector.
But trading was slow in Asia ahead of the Lunar New Year
celebration next week, with some speculators still keen to book
profits from this week's two-week high around $865, said Dick
Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong.
"There's a bit of selling around. Surely, the market is
very quiet in Asia," said Poon, adding that physical buying
from jewellers could pick up again in early February.
Gold hit a bid low of $852.40 before bouncing slightly.
The dollar firmed against the euro on Friday after Treasury
Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner said a strong U.S. currency
was in the United State's interest. []
The dollar was also supported by safe-haven bids due to
losses in Asian shares, with Tokyo's Nikkei share average
<> falling almost 4 percent.
Gold, which often tracks movements in share markets,
rallied to a two-month high of $931 in early October, but then
dropped to a 13-month low around $680 that month after stock
market declines forced investors to cash in to cover losses.
"People are buying the ETF, either perhaps they think gold
is going to go up, or they are turning their attention from
stocks to gold ETF. I guess the attention is back on the
banking sector for now," said Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.
"The fact that gold holdings keep breaking new highs sort
of points towards the fact that more people are putting their
money into gold ETFs."
Dealers said investors turned to gold as a safe harbour as
they priced in the worst possibilities for the banking sector
after Royal Bank of Scotland reported huge losses and Bank of
America was granted more government funding.
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $942.00 an ounce, up $16
from New York's notional close.
New York gold futures <GCZ9> fell $1.9 an ounce to $856.9
in electronic trade.
Precious metals prices at 0617 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 856.25 0.70 +0.08 2.83
Spot Silver 11.38 0.00 +0.00 -22.95
Spot Platinum 942.00 16.00 +1.73 -38.03
Spot Palladium 181.00 -1.00 -0.55 -50.82
TOCOM Gold 2446.00 -13.00 -0.53 -20.07
20385
TOCOM Platinum 2612.00 -45.00 -1.69 -51.08
7572
TOCOM Silver 320.50 -1.10 -0.34 -40.76
126
TOCOM Palladium 524.00 -12.00 -2.24 -61.21
182
Euro/Dollar 1.2923
Dollar/Yen 88.44
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
