* Gold slips below $1,000/oz as dollar firms
* SPDR holdings unchanged, traders cite physical selling
(Updates prices and comments)
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, but failed to match its
record high of $1,030.80 an ounce.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,000.15 an ounce by 1125 GMT,
versus $1,006.15 an ounce late in New York on Friday. The
precious metal has gained as much as 16 percent this year.
"The tricky thing is the selling interest in the 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. 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. []
"Central banks, including China's, could acquire the gold at
lower prices via the market. However, this is likely to be
market-adverse on the whole, even if the sale takes place over
several years and in a way that will not disrupt gold markets,"
Commerzbank said in a research note.
On Monday, Market News International reported that China is
considering buying gold being offered for sale by the
International Monetary Fund, citing two unnamed government
sources, but the report could not be confirmed and traders said
it had little lasting impact on the market. []
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," he said.
Data 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.
Palladium <XPD=> was at $297 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 $1,313 an ounce compared with $1,327
an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore, Reporting
by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Toby Chopra)
