* Gold falls to lowest since Jan 23 at $864.30/oz
* SPDR gold ETF sees outflow; iShares Silver hits record
* Indian jewellery demand picks up as prices fall
* ETF Securities files to register platinum trust with SEC
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity; new byline, changes
dateline, previously LONDON)
By Carole Vaporean
NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - Gold fell sharply on Monday
as some investors unwound safe-haven positions, others sold as
the dollar strengthened and others unloaded gold along with
other commodities including oil and base metals.
Slides beneath key technical levels around $880 and $870
per ounce accelerated the decline as investors liquidated some
long positions and targeted key support levels around $850.
Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $868.65/870.25 an ounce by
3:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT), well off $892.50 in late New York
trade on Friday.
The session low of $864.30 was last seen on Jan. 23.
Analysts said a myriad of factors contributed to gold's
decline and prevented fund buyers from jumping in.
"No buyers as selling begat selling. Too much for sale all
at once, with sell stops from early morning from funds not
wanting to be buyers ahead of too much for sale," said George
Gero, a vice president at RBC Captial Markets in New York.
An broad increase in the dollar weighed on gold. A stronger
dollar tends to make dollar-priced bullion less attractive to
overseas investors.
Stocks in Europe and New York fell on fading optimism about
global economic recovery. [] Investors doubtful of economic
recovery also sold gold along with most other commodities.
Still other selling came from investors optimistic about
the economy. These investors unwound safe-haven positions in
gold to make riskier investments.
"I think we're still seeing systemic selling. I think risk
appetite is climbing. Even though equity markets are not up
today, they were up overnight and a lot of the (gold) selling
we're seeing started off in Asia overight," said James Steel,
HSBC metals analyst and Senior vice president.
Other selling was a holdover from last week after the Group
of 20 leaders meeting talked of large gold sales.
"With the G20, talk of gold sales and the optimism that
came back into markets last week, there's been liquidation from
various quarters," Mitsubishi analyst Tom Kendall said.
OUTFLOW
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New
York's SPDR Gold Trust, said it recorded a small outflow on
Friday. Buying by the funds has driven overall gold demand as
the financial crisis fueled interest in physical assets.
But sliding gold prices have revived demand in India, where
jewelry sales were picking up ahead of the key gold-buying
Akshaya Tritya festival this month. []
A unit of London's ETF Securities filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission to register platinum and palladium
trusts in the United States for the first time, according to a
notice on the SEC's website. []
Analysts said they thought selling of platinum and
palladium was muted by the SEC filing. They said they feared
strong ETF demand for platinum and palladium could cut supply
for industrial users.
Spot platinum <XPT=> eased to $1,140.00/1,150.00 an ounce
from $1,154.50. And, spot palladium <XPD=> firmed to
$221.0/226.0 an ounce from $218 previously.
Silver <XAG=> dipped to $12.11/12.19 an ounce from $12.71.
The world's largest silver-backed ETF, the iShares Silver
Trust <SLV>, said its holdings rose 119.55 tonnes or 1.4
percent from the day before to a record 8,413.01 tonnes on
April 3. []
(Editing by David Gregorio)
