* Rhodium extends gain, tops $1,600/oz <RHOD-LON>
* Bullion turns lower as share prices rally, fear subsides
* Investment outflows continue from gold ETFs
(Updates with quotes, closing prices, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell
slightly on Tuesday, relinquishing early gains as global share
prices arrested their decline and overshadowed credit jitters
that had previously heightened bullion's appeal.
Investors pondering whether the economic downturn might be
showing signs of stabilizing capitalized on end-user demand for
auto-material rhodium, which extended recent sharp gains.
Global stocks, as measured by MSCI's all-country index,
moved into positive territory <.MIWD00000PUS> as Wall Street
rallied, with some brighter-than-expected earnings offsetting
concern about corporate profits.
"The equities market has really turned things around. I
think the government is not going to be as aggressive as
previously thought with the (notion of) bank nationalization,"
said Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst at optionsXpress.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday
that most U.S. banks have enough capital to keep lending, but a
pile of bad debts is fostering doubts about their health and
slowing a recovery. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $881.90 an ounce at 3:09 p.m. EDT
(1909 GMT), down 0.3 percent from its late Monday quote of
$884.15 in New York.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> settled down
$4.80 at $882.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of New York
Mercantile Exchange.
"We've seen a bit of a disappointing day for gold. The fact
that we failed in front of $900 is a bit of a bear signal and I
wouldn't be surprised if we saw another move lower," said James
Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.
Physical fundamentals looked promising, however. Gold
demand in India, the world's largest bullion buyer, rose after
falling last week, with trader MMTC Ltd saying it would import
9-10 tonnes this month. []
RHODIUM EXTENDS GAIN
Autocatalyst material rhodium rose another $50 on Tuesday
to $1,625 an ounce, extending stellar gains seen over the past
week.
Prices have climbed nearly 40 percent since last Tuesday --
albeit from lower levels -- with analysts citing end-user
demand in what may be a tentative signal of moderation in the
economic crisis.
Analysts say expectations of higher Chinese car sales and
auto industry initiatives -- including Germany's cash for
clunkers scrapping scheme to encourage new car purchases --
have enticed end-users to replenish stocks of the metals and
investors to jump on the bandwagon.
"There's a lot of demand out of China. I think it's car
related and chemical-catalyst related. In these small markets
which are unregulated there's also a little bit of investment
demand and that's triggering the price even further," said
Andreas Daniel, head trader at German-based Heraeus Metals.
Ruthenium <RUTH-LON>, used to make computer hard discs,
also rose nearly 7 percent on Tuesday to $80 an ounce.
Concerns over investment demand nagged at the gold price
after key gold-backed exchange-traded funds recorded outflows
last week. Holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, New York's
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, fell 21.7 tonnes last week. []
London's ETF Securities said its largest gold-backed
exchange-traded product, Gold Bullion Securities <GBSx.L>, saw
an outflow of 2.3 percent in the week to Friday.
[]
Among other precious metals, spot platinum <XPT=> was at
$1,150.00 an ounce, down 0.8 percent from its late Monday quote
$1,159.50, while spot palladium <XPD=> was at $222.00 an ounce,
off 1.6 percent from its previous finish of $225.50. Silver
<XAG=> was at $11.96 an ounce, down 0.7 percent from its
previous finish $12.04.
(With additional reporting by Chris Kelly and Veronica Brown;
editing by Jim Marshall)
