TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied above
two-week lows on Tuesday, but investors remained cautious about
potential fallout from fraud charges against Goldman Sachs and
currency volatility on Greece's debt problems.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> were little changed at $1,134.00 per ounce
from New York's notional close of $1,134.60 an ounce.
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> were at
$1,134.50 per ounce, compared with Monday's $1,135.80 on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* On Monday, investors took the opportunity to cash in
profits on gold, which has rallied about $100 since early
February, pushing it down to a two-week low.
* Investors were cautious about potential fallout from fraud
charges that U.S. authorities have levelled at leading
commodities player and investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc
<GS.N>.
* Gold tumbled 2 percent on Friday and sentiment remained
cautious this week about
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,141.041
tonnes as of April 19, unchanged from the previous business day
and the same as a record first marked on April 9. []
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks rose late on Monday as investors reassessed the
potential damage of the fraud case against Goldman and earnings
optimism grew. []
* The dollar was slightly weaker against a basket of major
currencies on Tuesday, after rising the previous day when
concerns over the charges against Goldman and a delay in planned
talks on an aid package for Greece stoked safe-haven demand for
the U.S. currency. []
* AngloGold Ashanti, the world's No. 3 gold producer, could
invest $2.5 billion to $3 billion to build a gold mine in
Colombia if feasibilities studies show the project is viable, a
top executive said. []
* Gold mining companies will invest as much as $4.5 billion
over the next ten years in Colombia, attracted by rich unexplored
areas and soaring prices, the head of the country's Asomineros
miners group told Reuters. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday: <ECON>
- Germany March PPI. (0600 GMT)
- Euro zone February current account. (0800 GMT)
- Euro zone February investment flows. (0800 GMT)
- UK March inflation data. (0830 GMT)
- Germany April ZEW. (0900 GMT)
- ICSC/Goldman Sachs weekly U.S. chain store sales. (1145
GMT)
- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner testify. (1500 GMT)
- ABC U.S. weekly consumer comfort index. (2100 GMT)
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PRICES
Precious metals prices at 2332 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg 2 Day chg MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1136.70 $2.10 +0.19% -1.83% $1123.81 47
Spot silver $17.75 $0.04 +0.23% -2.37% $17.54 44
Spot plat $1692.00 -$1.50 -0.09% +0.12% $1652.17 51
COMEX gold $1135.90 $0.70 +0.06% -0.04% $1126.62 44
TOCOM gold 3,370 12 +0.36% -1.66% 3,362 40
TOCOM plat 4,992 62 +1.26% -1.64% 4,927 46
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.349 $0.000 +0.01% +0.16%
Dlr/yen 92.47 0.00 +0.00% +0.65%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
