* Gold in choppy range in pre-holiday thin trade
* Gold biased to fall -technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. Reuters/UMich Sentiment; 1355 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Dec 10(Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday in
choppy trade, as a dollar rally took a breather, and
uncertainty over Europe's fiscal health continued to attract
investors to bullion.
Ireland's debt owes continued to grab attention from
investors, as Fitch downgraded the country's rating, and the
opposition party said it would vote against a bailout package.
[][]
The dollar weakened as strong demand at a 30-year Treasury
bond auction knocked yields lower, while the euro won a
reprieve in Asia.
Traders said the market was set to trade in choppy range
as interest ebbs at year-end.
"Gold seems to be finding a base after the last two-day
big sell-off," said a Singapore-based trader. "Physical demand
should be the key to support at these levels; with downside
critical support at $1,371."
Gold was expected to trade in the range of $1,370 to
$1,400, he added.
Spot gold edged up 0.3 percent to $1,391.51 an
ounce by 0706 GMT, heading for a 1.6 percent weekly decline.
U.S. gold futures was little changed at $1,392.6.
Many traders are winding down positions ahead of the
year-end.
"It's more of a positioning story," said a second
Singapore-based trader. "We saw some sell-off as people tried
to pre-position before next year. In the medium term, everyone
agrees there is still a long way to go for gold, as dollar
weakness will still be a dominant trend going into next year."
Investors are also eyeing a Federal Reserve meeting next
Tuesday, the first after fierce debate on whether the central
bank's further quantitative easing would help the world's
largest economy.
"People are looking at the FOMC meeting to see if the QE2
(second round of quantitative easing) would be increased. In
that case, it would support gold prices," said Ronald Leung, a
physical dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, had been trending down in
the past week. It declined 1.518 tonnes to 1,293.778 tonnes by
Dec 9 from the previous day.
In comparison, holdings in the iShares Silver Trust ,
the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, stayed
at its record level of 10,941.34 tonnes.
Spot silver rose by 0.7 percent to $28.91 an ounce,
leading the precious metals complex and headed for a 1.4
percent weekly decline.
The head of Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp , the world's
biggest silver miner, said gold and silver would benefit from
continuing economic uncertainty. []
Precious metals prices at 0706 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pctchg Turnover
Spot Gold 1391.51 4.12 +0.30 27.00
Spot Silver 28.91 0.21 +0.73 71.78
Spot Platinum 1679.74 3.75 +0.22 14.50
Spot Palladium 740.98 5.01 +0.68 82.73
TOCOM Gold 3754.00 4.00 +0.11 15.19 35103
TOCOM Platinum 4574.00 -22.00 -0.48 4.41 8718
TOCOM Silver 78.20 0.70 +0.90 51.26 1619
TOCOM Palladium 2025.00 34.00 +1.71 73.82 560
Euro/Dollar 1.3271
Dollar/Yen 83.70
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting By Rujun Shen; Editing by Ed Lane)
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