* Gold may retrace to $1,440-technicals []
* Coming Up: ECB rate decision; 1145 GMT
(Updates prices)
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 $2.31 to $1,454.69 an ounce by 0607
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 $39.30 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 a quarter point on the day at $1.4297
, having risen to $1.4350, its highest since late January
2010, on Wednesday, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei average
closed up 0.1 percent at 9,590.93.
In the grains market, Chicago corn futures edged up to near
record highs as thin U.S. stocks and expectations of firm
Chinese demand helped purge early losses 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 fell $2 to $1,456.5 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.
Brent crude dipped on Thursday after five straight days of
gains on concern that rising prices will hurt demand from the
world's top oil consumers the United States and China, but
unrest in North Africa and the Middle East cushioned the fall.
Precious metals prices 0607 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1454.69 -2.31 -0.16 2.48
Spot Silver 39.30 -0.13 -0.33 27.35
Spot Platinum 1779.00 -8.45 -0.47 0.65
Spot Palladium 773.43 -4.67 -0.60 -3.26
TOCOM Gold 3996.00 3.00 +0.08 7.16 57655
TOCOM Platinum 4903.00 -52.00 -1.05 4.41 17505
TOCOM Silver 107.60 -0.50 -0.46 32.84 2200
TOCOM Palladium 2127.00 -42.00 -1.94 1.43 544
Euro/Dollar 1.4309
Dollar/Yen 85.27
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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