* Gold slips below $1,000/oz as dollar firms
* SPDR holdings unchanged, traders cite physical selling
(Recasts, updates prices and comments, previous SINGAPORE)
By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Gold dropped below $1,000 an
ounce on Monday, its lowest in almost a week, as the dollar rose
broadly and investors took a breather ahead of this week's U.S.
Federal Reserve and G20 meeting.
Analysts said selling pressure from the physical market has
also weighed on bullion, which climbed to $1,023.85 an ounce
last week, its highest since March 2008 and but failed to match
its record high of $1,030.80 an ounce.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,000.30 an ounce by 0854 GMT,
versus $1,006.15 an ounce late in New York on Friday. Bullion,
which gained as much as 16 percent this year, fell to an
intraday low of $999.05 an ounce on Monday.
"The tricky thing is the selling interest in physical market
and the stronger dollar this morning," said analyst Manquoba
Madinane at Standard Bank in Johannesburg, and echoed traders
who mentioned selling from speculators in Asia, driven by
worries over the IMF's plan to sell gold and a firmer dollar.
The dollar rose broadly on Monday, extending its pullback
from a one-year low against the euro as traders continued to
trim short positions in the U.S. currency following broad losses
so far this month.[]
China is considering buying gold being offered for sale by
the International Monetary Fund, Market News International said
on Monday, citing two unnamed government sources, but the report
could not immediately be confirmed.[]
On Friday, the IMF member countries formally endorsed a plan
for strictly limited sales of 403.3 tonnes of gold from its
stockpile but said sales would be done in a way that did not
disrupt gold markets. []
MOMENTUM FAVORS UPSIDE
But the upside momentum was still intact, traders said, as
the lure of gold remained undimmed with uncertainties over the
sustainability of global economic recovery and long-term
inflation fears still haunting the investors.
"People are taking a bit of a breather ahead of the FOMC and
G20, that's all," said Simon Weeks, director of precious metals
sales at Bank of Nova Scotia.
The Federal Open Market Committee is likely to hold rates
steady at the meeting, which starts on Tuesday but markets want
to know if there are signs that the super-accommodative policy
stance will be wound back, given a pick up in economic data.
"The market's got a bit ahead of itself and over extended on
the long side. I think at some point bullion will go above
$1,000 an ounce again, but in the short term I'd say we're going
through a little bit of consolidation," he said.
Data released on Friday showed that speculators held a
record net long position in U.S. gold futures for the week ended
Sept.15.[]
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> fell $8.20 an
ounce at $1,002.1 on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood unchanged at
1,086.479 tonnes on Sept. 18. <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> []
In other metals, silver fell to $16.47 an ounce, its lowest
in almost a week, and was last at $16.64 an ounce compared with
Friday's $16.96. The metal touched its highest in over 13 months
last week.
Palladium <XPD=> was at $296 an ounce versus $299.50 an
ounce on Friday. It hit $304 an ounce last week, its highest
since end-August 2008.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,312 an ounce compared with $1,327
an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore, Reporting
by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Toby Chopra)
