* Gold may retrace to $1,440-technicals []
* Coming Up: ECB rate decision; 1145 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 7 (Reuters) - Gold ticked lower to hover
below a record on Thursday ahead of an expected euro zone
interest rate hike, while ETF holdings dropped to their lowest
in almost a year as investors shifted some of their money into
other markets.
Despite selling in the physical market, bullion was still
supported by inflation concerns driven by the deadly unrest in
Libya and the Middle East as well as soaring food prices. Silver
barely moved after hitting a 31-year peak on Wednesday.
Spot gold eased 61 cents to $1,456.39 an ounce by
0331 GMT, after striking a record of $1,461.91 on Wednesday as
the U.S. dollar slipped to a 14-month low against the euro.
Gold is far below its all-time inflation-adjusted high,
estimated at almost $2,500 an ounce set in 1980 as a result of
heightened geopolitical pressure and hyper inflation.
"Moms and dads are moving out, out of gold and into the
equities. But our expectations for gold moving higher has more
to do with inflationary concerns, I think, particularly in
China," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity
Broking Services.
"Market is looking at not just oil, it's looking at food and
I think that's important, particularly when corn reached a
record high. Expectations are that foodstuff will continue to
rise."
Spot silver hardly changed at $39.41 an ounce, within
sight of a 31-year peak of $39.75 struck on Wednesday.
The European Central Bank is poised to raise interest rates
from a record low 1.0 percent on Thursday and more is likely to
follow but, fearful of heaping more pain on the euro zone's
stragglers, it will give few clues about when the next move will
come. []
The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.4310 , having
risen to $1.4350, its highest since late January 2010, on
Wednesday, while the Nikkei average briefly rose 1.1
percent to an interday high of 9,687.18.
In the grains market, Chicago corn futures steadied near
record highs as thin U.S. stocks and expectations of firm
Chinese demand kept declines in check ahead of key U.S. data
later this week.
"There's some profit taking at the high end. I think people
are shifting money into stocks because the U.S. economy seems to
be improving. I don't think the ETF is giving you better
returns," said a bullion dealer in Hong Kong.
"Also I think the gold market is moving too slowly after
reaching the high."
In Singapore, a centre for bullion trading in Southeast
Asia, dealers noted sales of scraps from Thailand and Indonesia
as holders cashed in on bullion's rise to a record.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings fell to 1,205.467 tonnes by
April 6, their lowest level since May last year, from 1,212.745
tonnes on April 5.
U.S. gold futures for June barely moved at $1.457.7
an ounce. Gold's volatility index dropped more than 2
percent on Wednesday, suggesting that the market was not
expecting wild price movements in the future.
U.S. crude oil futures inched lower Thursday after ending at
their highest level in 2-1/2 years in New York on Wednesday, but
supply worries due to the turmoil in Libya and the Middle East
continued to support prices. []
Precious metals prices 0331 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1456.39 -0.61 -0.04 2.60
Spot Silver 39.41 -0.02 -0.05 27.71
Spot Platinum 1780.49 -6.96 -0.39 0.73
Spot Palladium 776.75 -1.35 -0.17 -2.85
TOCOM Gold 4004.00 11.00 +0.28 7.37 42744
TOCOM Platinum 4911.00 -44.00 -0.89 4.58 13009
TOCOM Silver 108.00 -0.10 -0.09 33.33 1857
TOCOM Palladium 2136.00 -33.00 -1.52 1.86 398
Euro/Dollar 1.4312
Dollar/Yen 85.29
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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