* Gold struggles to hold $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 fell to its lowest in
almost a week on Monday, weighed by a rallying dollar that
dented the metal's appeal to non-U.S. investors and record
speculative positioning in the New York gold futures market.
Spot gold <XAU=> stood at $1,000.40 an ounce by 1459 GMT,
versus $1,006.15 an ounce late in New York on Friday. U.S. gold
December gold futures <GCZ9> fell $8.30 an ounce at $1,002.00 on
the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices earlier hit their lowest since Sept. 15 at $995.50,
some way off the 18-month high struck last week at $1,023.85.
However, gold has gained some 13.5 percent so far this year.
Data on Friday showed speculators held a record net long
position in the U.S. gold futures market for the week ended
Sept.15. []
Analysts said concern was growing on the extent of
speculative positioning -- buying to profit if the price rises
-- in the market, as that left gold vulnerable to sharp
corrections if currency fundamentals moved against it.
"The market is a bit wary of adding new longs after the
highs of last week," Standard Bank analyst Walter De Wet said.
"Given that the spec positions in all of these metals is
really very high, without substantial dollar weakness we won't
move much higher," he added.
Analysts also said selling pressure from the physical market
had weighed on bullion, setting back the quest to strike record
highs above $1,030.80 an ounce -- the level hit in March 2008.
IMF GOLD
The dollar rose broadly, extending its pullback from a
one-year low against the euro <EUR=>. On Friday, 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. []
While concerns about speculative positioning remain, most
analysts agreed that upside momentum was still intact, with
long-term inflation fears still stalking 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 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 $16.80 an ounce, in line
with gold, compared with Friday's $16.96.
Palladium <XPD=> stood at $294.50 an ounce versus $299.50 an
ounce on Friday. It hit $304 an ounce last week, its highest
since end-August 2008. Platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,312 an ounce
compared with $1,327.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore and
Veronica Brown in London; editing by James Jukwey)
