By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Friday after
topping $950 an ounce the previous day, while holdings of the
world's largest gold-backed fund grew almost 4 percent to a
record, reflecting increasing demand for safe-haven
investments.
World stock markets and the dollar gained ground after a
sell-off the previous day, after sources familiar with the plan
told Reuters the Obama administration was hammering out a
programme to subsidise mortgages. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was trading at $940.00 an ounce, down 0.5
percent from New York's notional close on Thursday, but on
track for a rise of roughly 3 percent on the week.
Traders said gold was weakened by profit-taking and some
physical selling by Asian players, though trade was quiet
overall after prices rose to their highest in more than six
months earlier in the week.
Bullion hit a peak of $953.30 on Wednesday, its highest
since July 2008, and rose as high as $951.80 on Thursday.
Benchmark gold futures for April delivery <GCJ9> eased to
$941.8 an ounce after rising above $950 an ounce to as high as
$954, the highest since July 23, late on Thursday.
But market participants remained mostly bullish, given
uncertainty over the prospects for the global economy. A glut
of money supplied by central banks and governments to prop up
economies has made gold attractive.
"Thanks to low interest rates around the globe, the
disadvantage of holding precious metals has disappeared," said
Yuki Sonoda, adviser to the president at Daiichi Commodities
Co.
"Investors keep fleeing towards safe havens. Helped by a
consistent inflow of long-term funds, gold is set to reach
$1,000 sooner rather than later," Sonoda said, referring to a
boom in exchange-traded funds backed by gold.
Gold could rally above its previous all-time high to as
much as $1,500 an ounce if it manages to close the week above
$892 an ounce, technical analysts at Barclays Capital say.
[]
Exchange-traded funds issuing securities backed by physical
stocks of bullion and silver have seen interest soar as
long-term investors switch out of equities and other
conventional assets.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said on Friday its holdings hit a record
970.57 tonnes as of Feb. 12, up 35.48 tonnes or 3.8 percent
from the previous day. []
Its holdings have grown more than 20 percent this year.
The iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, the world's biggest
silver-backed ETF, has seen its holdings hit at an all-time
high of nearly 7,607 tonnes, up more than 10 percent this year.
In addition to buying by U.S. fund managers, there was talk
that Indian investors were rushing to buy silver, relatively
less costly than gold, for investment.
Spot silver <XAG=> was at $13.44 an ounce, almost flat from
its notional U.S. close of $13.46.
Precious metals prices at 0624 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 939.50 -5.55 -0.59 6.74
Spot Silver 13.43 -0.03 -0.22 18.64
Spot Platinum 1066.00 -7.00 -0.65 14.38
Spot Palladium 214.00 0.50 +0.23 15.99
TOCOM Gold 2758.00 11.00 +0.40 7.19
34497
TOCOM Platinum 3123.00 15.00 +0.48 17.76
9731
TOCOM Silver 389.90 -3.00 -0.76 22.11
246
TOCOM Palladium 636.00 3.00 +0.47 15.64
191
Euro/Dollar 1.2921
Dollar/Yen 91.04
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Hugh
Lawson)
