SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on Monday,
holding near last week's record, but a rebound in the U.S.
dollar and the absence of Japanese speculators could limit
gains.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $1,050.50 an ounce at 0038
GMT, up $2.25 from New York's notional close and within
striking distance of a lifetime high of $1,061.20 an ounce
struck last Thursday.
* Gold ended nearly 5 percent higher for the week as dollar
weakness pushed gold to a series of record highs. Investors
bought the metal as an alternative to paper currencies, and a
weaker dollar also makes gold cheaper for non-U.S. investors.
* U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> added $3.30
an ounce to $1,051.90 on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange, hovering near last week's record around
$1,062 an ounce.
* Noncommercial net longs in COMEX gold futures rose to an
all-time high 239,668 lots in the week ended Oct. 9, up 3.6
percent from the previous week, data from the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission showed. []
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,109.314
tonnes as of Oct. 9, unchanged from the previous business day.
<XAUEXT-NYS-TT>. The holdings rose to a record high of 1,134.03
tonnes on June 1. []
MARKET NEWS
* The U.S. dollar held above recent 14-month lows against a
basket of currencies on Monday as traders trimmed some of their
short dollar positions on prospects that U.S. interest rates
will move up earlier than expected. []
* Oil rose over 1 pct to top $72 a barrel on Monday,
bolstered by optimism about the pace of the global economic
recovery and a positive demand forecast from the International
Energy Agency. []
* U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the Dow hitting a
closing high for 2009, as investors anticipated positive news
from next week's key earnings reports and bullish broker
comments boosted tech shares. []
* India's gold collection under exchange-traded funds rose
by 15.3 percent on year to 6.765 tonnes in September, data from
the funds showed, in a month when the yellow metal neared its
all-time high. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: <ECON>
- India industrial production for August (0630 GMT)
Some markets in Japan and the United States are closed for
holidays
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[]
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0038 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30
RSI Spot gold $1050.50 $2.25 +0.21% +17.11% $860.10
70
Spot silver $17.80 $0.13 +0.74% +48.58% $11.29
67
Spot plat $1335.50 $3.50 +0.26% +40.73% $948.98
60
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.471 $0.157 +11.95% +11.60%
Dlr/yen 89.99 -0.39 -0.43% +1.20%
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
