(Repeats to fix technical glitch)
* Gold moves away from 1-mth low as euro, oil recover
* SPDR Gold Trust's <GLD> bullion holdings hit fresh record
(Updates prices)
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday, moving away
from the previous day's one-month low, as oil prices recovered
and the euro rebounded against the dollar.
Gold has been caught in a range, lacking incentives to test
its upside but drawing support from its safe-haven status and
appeal as an alternative to assets such as stocks, dejected by
the prospect of a prolonged global recession, analysts said.
Bullion's safe-haven appeal was reinforced by mounting credit
fears on news of further trouble at Bank of America and
Citigroup, analysts said.
Strong investor interest was spotlighted by news that the
world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold
Trust <GLD>, held a record 795.25 tonnes of gold by Jan. 15, up
4.59 tonnes from 790.66 tonnes on Jan. 14. []
"Current market levels appear to be comfortable for everyone,
with support coming from such ETF buying, while the upside is
limited given a lack of inflation worries," said Naomi Suzuki, an
analyst at SCM Securities in Tokyo.
"There is a flight-to-quality aspect behind gold buying and a
view that the gold market is relatively firmer than other
markets," Suzuki said.
Earlier on Friday, gold moved towards a one-month low as U.S.
crude futures extended declines to near $35 a barrel after a 5
percent fall on Thursday, and the U.S. dollar firmed against the
euro.
By 0650 GMT, gold <XAU=> had inched up about 0.6 percent to
$822.20 an ounce from New York's notional close of $817.45. Gold
fell to a one-month low of $801.65 on Thursday.
U.S. crude futures were up 0.3 percent at $35.69 a barrel.
Gold typically moves in line with crude as the direction of the
oil market is an indicator of interest in commodities. []
The euro rebounded from earlier falls to stand up 0.9 percent
against the dollar at $1.3223 <EUR=>. The currency fell against
the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank cut rates
for the fourth month in a row, slashing rates by 50 basis points
to 2 percent, matching a record low rate. []
A weaker dollar makes dollar-based gold less expensive for
holders of other currencies.
U.S. gold futures were higher in Asia, with futures for
February delivery <GCG9> at $823.0 per ounce, up $15.7 or 1.94
percent from Thursday's settlement on the COMEX division of the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
Cash platinum <XPT=> rose as high as $943.50 an ounce, up $21
from New York's notional close.
The December platinum contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange <0#JPL:> rose 93 yen per gram to 2,729 yen. The TOCOM
December gold contract <0#JAU:> gained 65 yen per gram to 2,400
yen.
Precious metals prices at 0655 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 822.75 5.30 +0.65 -6.52
Spot Silver 10.64 0.06 +0.57 -6.01
Spot Platinum 938.00 15.50 +1.68 0.64
Spot Palladium 180.00 3.00 +1.69 -2.44
TOCOM Gold 2398.00 63.00 +2.70 -6.80 35308
TOCOM Platinum 2730.00 94.00 +3.57 2.94 9523
TOCOM Silver 308.40 11.40 +3.84 -3.41 273
TOCOM Palladium 535.00 20.00 +3.88 -2.73 122
Euro/Dollar 1.3253
Dollar/Yen 90.29
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 Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore, Miho
Yoshikawa in Tokyo;)
