* Gold pares gains after brief push above $960
* SPDR Gold holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> steady
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Gold held steady near $955 an ounce
on Monday, underpinned by firmness in oil prices, after it failed
to top a three-week high of $961 marked late last week.
Trading has largely been confined to a range of $930 to $960
during the past three months, with gold pressured by a resurgent
dollar but underpinned by inflation worries and uncertainty about
the economy.
Gold <XAU=> rose as high as $960.35 per ounce, up 0.6 percent
on the day, before drifting down to $955.25 by 0551 GMT, compared
with New York's notional close of $954.45.
"$960 is the resistance level we have been seeing since the
latter half of August, and gold remains technically vulnerable
around that level," said Shuji Sugata, a manager at Tokyo's
Mitsubishi Corporation Futures & Securities.
"And we also have crude oil fairly solid as it continues to
trade around $70," he said.
Firmness in oil prices can add to inflation fears and gold is
often bought as a hedge against inflation.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$956.90 an ounce, down 0.2 percent.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,061.83 tonnes as
of Aug. 28, unchanged since Aug. 25. []
Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions rose 3.1
percent to 182,982 lots in the week to Aug. 25 from 177,530 lots,
a weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
showed. []
The yen hit a seven-week peak against the dollar <JPY=> on
Monday as short-term players chased it higher following a
thumping win for the opposition Democratic Party in Japan's
election, breaking chart supports for the greenback. []
Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in
an election on Sunday, ousting the ruling conservative party and
handing the untested Democrats the job of breathing life into a
struggling economy. []
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> reversed earlier gains after a sell-off
in Chinese equity markets to trade at $72.39 per barrel, but was
still above a one-week trough of $69.83 marked last week. []
Platinum <XPT=> has been supported by a strike at South
Africa's Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J>, the world's No. 2 producer of
the metal.
Union officials said on Saturday there is no scheduled
meeting to resume negotiations between workers and the company.
[]
Platinum inched down to $1,242.50 an ounce from $1,244.00.
The metal, used for jewellery and in auto catalysts, was also
under some downward pressure on news that suggested weak demand
for the auto industry.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, the world's largest automaker,
said last week it would halt a production line in Japan as it
looks to cut excess capacity to return to profitability.
[]
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0551 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 955.25 0.80 +0.08 8.53
Spot Silver 14.65 -0.09 -0.61 29.42
Spot Platinum 1242.50 -1.50 -0.12 33.32
Spot Palladium 287.00 0.00 +0.00 55.56
TOCOM Gold 2863.00 -8.00 -0.28 11.27 40510
TOCOM Platinum 3720.00 -22.00 -0.59 40.27 9492
TOCOM Silver 438.10 3.10 +0.71 37.21 379
TOCOM Palladium 864.00 -5.00 -0.58 57.09 495
Euro/Dollar 1.4284
Dollar/Yen 92.86
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda)
