* Gold slips to $1,100/oz as dlr firms after IMF sales plan
* Australian, New Zealand dollar slide []
* SPDR Gold holdings flat
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday,
squeezed after the U.S. dollar firmed on upbeat economic data
and commodity-linked currencies slipped on news the IMF planned
to sell more gold in the open market.
The IMF said it would begin phased open-market sales of the
remaining 191.3 tonnes of gold under a programme launched last
year to raise new resources for lending. [].
Spot gold <XAU=> dropped about 1 percent on the news, dragging
the Aussie <AUD=D4> and the New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> along
with it. By 0043 GMT, the precious metal was down 0.5 percent
at $1,100.75 from New York's notional close of $1,106.
Spot gold had hit a peak of $1,126.85 an ounce on Wednesday
ahead of the IMF statement, its highest since Jan. 20. []
"The immediate impact here is obviously lower on gold
prices. But this is probably a knee-jerk reaction," said Jacob
Oubina, a senior currency strategist at Forex.com, in New
Jersey.
"At the end of the day, the sales from the IMF are
well-known. In the medium term, I don't think this is going to
have a discernible impact. I think gold is still a viable asset
because I expect the global economy to recover in the second
half."
But aggressive selling was curbed by bargain-hunting demand
and expectations the IMF would not sell gold in a manner that
damaged the gold market, traders said.
"Gold is showing some resilience despite a weakening euro
and the news of IMF selling," said Shuji Sugata, a manager at
Mitsubishi Corp Futures Ltd's research team.
To avoid disruptions to the gold market, the IMF said the
sales would be done "in a phased manner over time". It kept
open the possibility that central banks could still buy some of
the gold directly.
The fund announced last year it would sell a total of 403.3
tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock, in an
effort to diversify its sources of income and step up low-cost
lending to poor countries.
Until now the gold has only been made available to central
banks. India, Mauritius and Sri Lanka have been purchasers.
The IMF move could take a bit of wind out of gold's rally,
said Peter Buchanan, a senior economist with CIBC World Markets
in Toronto.
"But if the U.S. dollar were to sell off it could temper
some of the downside," he added. "Also if a potential buyer
comes forward it will ease some of the concern."
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> were down 1.7
percent at $1,101.20 an ounce. On Wednesday, the contract ended
30 cents higher at $1,120.10 on the COMEX division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange prior to the IMF news.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood steady at
1,109.424 tonnes as of Feb. 17 from the previous day.
[]
Precious metals prices at 0054 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1099.95 -6.05 -0.55 0.39
Spot Silver 15.74 -0.10 -0.63 -6.48
Spot Platinum 1511.50 -13.00 -0.85 3.03
Spot Palladium 427.75 -5.75 -1.33 5.49
TOCOM Gold 3230.00 -35.00 -1.07 -0.89
42420
TOCOM Platinum 4424.00 -57.00 -1.27 0.98
9341
TOCOM Silver 46.80 -1.00 -2.09 -9.48
419
TOCOM Palladium 1247.00 -10.00 -0.80 7.04
221
Euro/Dollar 1.3572
Dollar/Yen 91.03
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
(Additional reporting by James Regan in Sydney)
