TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied near two-week
highs on Friday as the euro paused after gaining against the
dollar the previous day, with activity expected to be subdued due
to holidays in many Asian and most European markets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,122.50 per ounce as of 0019 GMT,
down 0.2 percent from New York's notional close of $1.125.50 per
ounce.
* Spot gold <XAU=> rose to $1,127.75 an ounce on Thursday,
its highest since March 17, while platinum group metals rallied
to their highest in more than 20 months as fresh investment money
poured into commodities and other asset classes across the board.
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> were at
$1,125.30 per ounce, compared to $1,126.10 an ounce on the COMEX
division of NYMEX.
* Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,662.00 an ounce after
hitting a 20-month high of $1,671.50 on Thursday. Silver <XAG=>
was at $17.86 an ounce after hitting $17.97 an ounce on Thursday,
its highest in 10 weeks.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,129.823
tonnes as of April 1, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
* The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its holdings fell 61.01 tonnes
to 9,217.17 tonnes as of April 1, down 0.7 percent from the
previous business day. []
* Most markets in Asia and Europe are closed on Friday and
Monday for Easter holidays.
MARKET NEWS
* Nikkei average <> opened up 0.26 percent. []
* The Dow and the S&P 500 rose on Thursday, thanks to upbeat
economic data, but the Nasdaq was stagnant as investors pummelled
shares of Research In Motion <RIM.TO><RIMM.O> following downbeat
results. []
* The euro steadied on Friday after rising against the dollar
the previous day. []
* As part of a decade-old agreement between central banks,
the Bank of France sold 56 tonnes of gold for 1.3 billion euros
($1.75 billion) in 2009, the central bank said on Thursday. The
amount was just over half the 103 tonnes sold in 2008 and the
sale brought the Bank of France's total gold holdings to 2,435
tonnes. []
* Analysts are expecting a U.S. payrolls report on Friday to
show the economy added 190,000 jobs in March.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Friday: <ECON>
- U.S. employment report for March. (1230 GMT)
- U.S. ECRI future inflation gauge for March. (1340 GMT)
- U.S. ECRI weekly. (1430 GMT)
RELATED NEWS
> Gold at 2-week high, PGMs rally on investment flow []
> Oil, metals rise but volatility seen in Q2 []
> US factory, jobs boost hopes recovery to last []
> Not time to raise rates yet; Fed officials say []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0019 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg 2 Day chg MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1122.00 -$3.50 -0.31% -3.10% $1113.62 66
Spot silver $17.82 -$0.05 -0.28% -1.98% $16.94 75
Spot plat $1662.00 -$6.50 -0.39% +1.25% $1588.78 73
COMEX gold $1123.00 $9.10 +0.82% +1.62% $1116.41 63
TOCOM gold 3,393 37 +1.10% +1.89% 3,265 77
TOCOM plat 4,998 71 +1.44% +2.10% 4,646 87
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.358 $0.000 -0.01% +0.51%
Dlr/yen 93.76 -0.07 -0.07% +0.32%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Michael Watson)
