* SPDR gold ETF holdings rise to record 1,307.963 T
* Gold:silver ratio lowest since May on day-to-day basis
* Coming Up: May US home sales, durable goods, Q1 GDP
(Updates prices, comment. Changes dateline, byline.
Recasts.)
By Carole Vaporean and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - Gold rallied on Friday
to an all-time record above $1,260 an ounce, as investors
looked to precious metals for an alternative to equity or debt
investments given renewed uncertainty about the economic
recovery.
Several surprisingly weak U.S. economic readings released a
day earlier renewed investors worries, driving them to seek the
safety of a tangible asset like gold.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit an all-time high of $1,261.90 an
ounce, but was bid at $1,256.65 an ounce at 3:20 p.m. EDT (1920
GMT), against $1,243.40 late on Thursday. U.S. gold futures for
August delivery <GCQ0> also climbed to a record at $1,263.70,
and settled up $9.60 at $1,258.30, its highest ever close.
"I think it is a case of gold's ability to compete with
both credit and equity markets for investments. Competing with
credit markets has been in play for a long time, because of low
interest rates and low opportunity cost of holding gold," said
Tom Pawlicki, precious metals analyst at MF GLOBAL in Chicago.
"The data yesterday from initial claims and Philadelphia
Fed was another thing indicating to investors that the economic
recovery will be subpar compared with other recession
recoveries. That makes gold more attractive," he added.
The precious metal has risen nearly 15 percent since the
end of 2009, fueled by sovereign risk in the euro zone,
historically low interest rates, and concern over the stability
of paper currencies.
"Sovereign debt worries, central banks raising their
holdings and record low interest rates keep attracting new
buyers to gold," said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.
"The Goldilocks scenario continues. Risk-off helps gold
through safe haven (buying), risk-on helps it as well through a
weaker dollar."
The euro, along with gold, was strengthened as well by the
U.S. Philadelphia Federal Reserve's plummeting June factory
index [] and a rise in first-time filings by
unemployed U.S. workers last week [], which pushed
U.S. Treasury yields to their lowest in a week.
The dollar's decline to three-week lows against the euro,
headed for its best weekly gain in over a year as European
leaders said they would publish details about the health of
European banks. []
Lingering fears over European sovereign debt levels are
also burnishing the metal's safe-haven appeal.
"We expect gold to continue to perform well given continued
fiscal/debt challenges in Europe and the potential for this to
spread to other regions," Deutsche Bank said in a note.
For a graphic:http://link.reuters.com/syg29k
SPDR ETF HITS RECORD
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, hit record highs at
1,307.963 tonnes on Thursday as investors continued to turn to
physical bullion as a haven from risk.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic:http://link.reuters.com/hyj82m
For a graphic: http://link.reuters.com/jyj82m
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Silver <XAG=> tracked gold higher to a four-week peak of
$19.24 an ounce. Late in the session it pulled off the highs
to trade around $19.16 an ounce against $18.67 late Thursday,
slightly outperforming the yellow metal.
Some investors said silver had lately underperformed gold's
gains and was due for a greater percentage rise.
The gold:silver ratio fell to its lowest since late May on
a day-to-day basis, with one ounce of gold now buying 66 ounces
of silver. The silver market, smaller and less liquid than
gold, tends generally to outperform when prices are rising.
"If both gold and silver continue to improve, we expect
silver to outperform, thus moving the gold-silver ratio lower,"
said ScotiaMocatta in a note.
Platinum <XPT=> advanced to $1,588 an ounce from $1,574,
and palladium <XPD=> was higher at $487 than $479.50 late
Thursday. Both hit a one-month highs during the session.
The world's biggest palladium producer, Norilsk Nickel
<GMKN.MM>, said it had received an offer for some of its
Australian assets, and that it planned to proceed with plans to
divest them. []
Prices at 3:32 p.m. CDT (2016 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCQ0> 1258.30 9.60 0.8% 14.8%
US silver <SIN0> 19.184 0.408 0.0% 13.9%
US platinum <PLN0> 1587.00 15.00 1.0% 7.9%
US palladium <PAU0> 491.40 10.15 2.1% 20.2%
Gold <XAU=> 1256.55 13.15 1.1% 14.6%
Silver <XAG=> 19.15 0.48 2.6% 13.7%
Platinum <XPT=> 1588.50 14.50 0.9% 8.4%
Palladium <XPD=> 488.00 8.50 1.8% 20.3%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1256.00 12.00 1.0% 13.8%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 18.77 27.00 1.5% 10.5%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1578.00 7.00 0.4% 7.6%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 484.00 6.00 1.3% 20.4%
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey;Editing by Sofina
Mirza-Reid )
