* Liquidity set to thin out on upcoming U.S. holiday
* Gold may rebound to $1,380 - technicals[]
* Coming up: U.S. FOMC Nov 2-3 meeting minutes; 1900 GMT
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - - Gold prices were steady on
Tuesday, supported by safe-haven demand spurred by renewed
worries over Ireland's political stability, and liquidity is
set to thin as the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches.
The uncertainty in Ireland's politics unnerved investors,
pressuring the euro and helping the dollar to stand firm.
Ireland begins two nervous weeks of political maneuvering
on Tuesday as the government dares the opposition to block an
austerity budget on which a multi-billion euro EU/IMF bailout
is
riding.[]
"The precious metals have good support, as the
situation in Europe is still unstable despite the rescue
package," said a trader based in Hong Kong. "It has attracted
funds in safe-haven buying."
The trader also noted that trading was thin because of a
public holiday in Japan.
"Liquidity is going to dry out later this week due to the
Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. But the thin liquidity might
exaggerate price moves."
Spot gold edged down 0.4 percent to $1,361.35 an
ounce by 0312 GMT. U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent
to $1,361.2 an ounce.
Spot gold is expected to rally towards $1,380 per
ounce as it completed a consolidation between $1,342 and
$1,363,
and is poised to rise further. []
For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102311091728.jpg
Physical selling around the $1,365 level was spotted in
early Asian trade, but overall trade through the physical
market was scarce, a Singapore-based dealer said.
"Gold is likely to be rangebound in the near future, with
$1,340 being a good support level. The outlook is still firm,
as
the European debt situation is not very optimistic," said the
dealer.
Just before the United States approaches the Thanksgiving
holiday later in the week, investors are watching for a batch
of
data from the U.S. on Tuesday, including preliminary economic
growth data for the third quarter.
Also on the radar are the minutes from the Federal
Reserve's
meeting on Nov 2-3, where the Fed decided to launch its $600
billion bond purchase programme.
"Gold should be able to gradually rise again, after the
correction down to the $1,330-level. But a strong rally will be
unlikely in the rest of the year, unless Ireland's problem
spills over to seriously impact the entire euro zone," said Hou
Xinqiang, an analyst at Jinrui Futures.
Speculation on China's tightening moves has come to a pause
for now, after Beijing raised banks' reserve requirement last
Friday -- a move tamer than an interest rate hike that many
market players had expected, Hou added.
Precious metals prices at 0312 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Spot Gold 1361.35 -4.74 -0.35 24.24
Spot Silver 27.58 -0.24 -0.86 63.87
Spot Platinum 1656.74 -3.26 -0.20 12.93
Spot Palladium 684.72 -6.25 -0.90 68.86
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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