* Holdings by SPDR Gold Trust hit record high []
* Gold ceiling at $1,160-$1,170 looks tough to break through
* Coming up: FOMC meeting starts []
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Tuesday, nearing
a one-week high marked the previous day as a halt in the euro's
decline provided support, while worries about debt-laden Greece
maintained the allure of gold as a currency alternative.
The market focus is on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy
meeting starting later in the day, with the consensus that the
Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates, judging by the
cautious tone of its most influential members.
Underlining steady investor demand for the precious metal,
holdings of physical stocks of gold by the world's biggest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, rose
to a record high as of Monday.
But buying has faltered whenever gold nears a four-month high
of $1,168.70 marked earlier this month, capping further gains in
the precious metal with the outlook of global economy remaining
uncertain, analysts said.
It stopped rising at $1,159.73 on Monday, its highest since
April 15.
"It's encouraging to see that people in the U.S. want to buy
the SPDR Gold Trust at the current price levels of $1,155. But I
don't think it's easy to clear the ceiling of $1,160-$1,170 for
now," said Kaname Gokon, deputy general manager at Japanese
brokerage Okato Shoji Co's research section.
Spot gold <XAU=> inched up to $1,154.35 per ounce as of 0305
GMT, compared to $1,153.38 per ounce in New York.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Technical analysis of spot gold price []
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> were up 0.1
percent at $1,155.10 per ounce, compared to the settlement of
$1,154 on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
On Monday, euro-priced <XAUEUR=R> gold hit a record high of
868.57 euros, bolstered by a combination of risk-averse buying
and euro weakness. Gold in euro terms stood at 863.03 euros an
ounce on Tuesday.
The SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings rose to a record of
1,146.216 tonnes as of April 26, up 6.088 tonnes from the
previous business day. []
The International Monetary Fund sold 5.6 tonnes of gold in
February under the second phase of its gold sales programme, the
World Gold Council said in a report on Monday. []
The news confirmed a market view that official-sector gold
sales would be limited due to renewed interest among central
banks in the wake of currency volatility and the better price
performance of the metal, traders said.
Precious metals prices at 0253 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1154.00 0.62 0.05 5.32
Spot Silver 18.23 -0.03 -0.16 8.32
Spot Platinum 1744.50 1.50 0.09 18.92
Spot Palladium 564.00 -0.50 -0.09 39.09
TOCOM Gold 3491 N/A N/A 7.12 31097
TOCOM Platinum 5249 N/A N/A 19.81 12947
TOCOM Silver 56 N/A N/A 7.54 357
TOCOM Palladium 1692 N/A N/A 45.24 914
Euro/Dollar 1.3372
Dollar/Yen 93.7500
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Watson)
