* Dollar firms vs euro after U.S. retail sales data
* SPDR holdings unchanged, market bothered
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Gold fell half a percent in
Europe on Tuesday as investors switched to equities after strong
earnings from U.S. bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, but losses are
likely to be limited ahead of a spate of U.S. corporate results.
Spot gold <XAU=> was down at $887.85/888.85 an ounce at 1430
GMT from $892.05 late in New York on Monday.
"This is partly reflecting the fact we saw stock markets
rebounding in Europe, especially financials," said Peter Fertig,
a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research.
He said positive results from Goldman Sachs suggested the
financial sector might be on the road to recovery.
"That of course reduces the need to buy gold as a hedge
against a collapse of the financial system," he said. "The U.S.
dollar has recovered a bit, which is also a negative factor."
Gold has lost ground as equity markets firmed and investors
switched out of gold to move back into stocks, which in Europe
climbed to two-month highs.
However, news that U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell 1.1
percent in March triggered an equity market retreat and boosted
the dollar against the euro. [] [] []
Traders said the stronger dollar against the euro was
weighing on gold. A firmer dollar typically pressures gold,
which is often bought as an alternative to the currency.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, were unchanged on Monday from
the level reached last Thursday. []
"This is bothering the market," a London-based trader said.
"Investors don't seem to be as keen as they were on gold."
Although SPDR's holdings are at a record, it has seen
inflows of only 70.86 tonnes in the last month, against 185.7
tonnes in February, according to the SPDR website.
AUSPICIOUS
UBS said in a research note that holdings of the nine ETFs
it tracks were unchanged on April 9 at 52.8 million ounces.
"The surge in equity markets and signs of a better
performance by U.S. banks may be calming some investors' fears,
but the fundamentals of gold are looking a lot more attractive
at current levels around $900 an ounce," it said.
"Scrap supply remains very low and although jewellery
demand is currently light, the signs of life in the jewellery
market when gold was on its recent lows are reassuring."
While jewellery demand has suffered from high and volatile
prices, traders hope buying will pick up ahead of India's
Akshaya Tritya festival on April 27, an auspicious time to buy
gold, and as the wedding season gets underway in Turkey.
Platinum also softened after hitting a six-month high on
Monday on expectations for firm investment demand after news
last week that London's ETF Securities had filed to register
ETFs backed by platinum and palladium in the United States.
The news sparked a 4 percent rise in platinum last week,
while palladium climbed almost 7 percent.
"Platinum and palladium prices are likely to push higher
going forward, supported by increased investor demand and
tightening supply/demand balances," HSBC said in a note.
Worries over the future of U.S. carmaker General Motors
<GM.N> failed to pressure platinum, about four-fifths of which
is bought by the car industry for use in autocatalysts. Analysts
say bad news from the car industry was priced in.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,212.50/1,222.50 an ounce from
$1,236.50 in New York late on Monday, while palladium <XPD=> was
bid at $233.50/236.50 an ounce from $237.
Silver <XAG=> eased to $12.63/12.70 an ounce from $12.71.
(Additional reporting by Pratima Desai; editing by Sue
Thomas)
