* Gold steadies as dollar pares gains
* Uptrend still in place but corrections possible
* Coming Up: U.S. Initial Jobs Claims; 1230 GMT
(Updates throughout with comment, prices; pvs SINGAPORE)
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $1,340 an
ounce on Thursday, as waning investor interest was offset by a
pull-back in the dollar ahead of a key G20 meeting and after
currency remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Holdings of gold in the world's largest exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, fell for a fourth consecutive
occassion, indicating a decline in investment appetite.
Meanwhile, speculation swirled in financial markets over a
possible bargain by the Group of 20 countries to rebalance the
global economy.
Finance and central bank chiefs meet on Friday to discuss a
common path on managing currency, trade and economic imbalances
ahead of a meeting in Seoul next month. []
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a high of $1,349.05 an ounce before
slipping to $1,344.80 by 0924 GMT, down from $1,343.50 at New
York's notional close. Prices rose by nearly 1 percent on
Wednesday following reports the Federal Reserve would buy bonds
to inject money into the U.S. economy.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> were up $1.3
an ounce at $1,345.60.
"Despite the renewed dollar weakness, we've been struggling
to regain traction to the upside. There have been a lot of
investors going into gold already and probably at this juncture,
would probably be a little hesitant, because now everyone is
focusing on currency moves and the outcome of what could happen
at the weekend," said Ole Hansen, a senior manager at Saxo Bank.
"The trend is still firmly pointing toward higher prices and
that really is the main message still."
SPDR said its holdings eased to 1,299.177 tonnes by Oct 20
from 1,300.089 tonnes on Oct 19. The holdings hit a record at
1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
DOLLAR TILTS LOWER
The dollar pared gains versus the euro as investors decided
comments by Geithner that major currencies were roughly in
alignment may not have warranted an earlier rally in the U.S.
currency. []
Gold benefits from dollar weakness, firstly as it becomes
cheaper to non-U.S. buyers, but also profits from any investor
nervousness stemming from declines in the greenback.
The strength in the dollar in the past week has stripped
more than 3 percent off the gold price since it hit a record
high of around $1,387 last week.
Gold also shed nearly 3 percent on Tuesday in its largest
one-day fall since July following China's surprise announcement
of an interest rate rise.
China's growth ebbed in the third quarter and inflation
edged just a touch higher, showing the economy was strong but
far from overheating. It also suggested an interest rate rise
this week may be enough for now. []
"I am still predicting $1,400 by the end of the year," said
Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst at ANZ in Melbourne,
adding that physical demand from India and China was expected to
support bullion.
"The recent tightening announcement by China has taken the
market a bit by surprise. But (it) doesn't derail the weak U.S.
dollar story and probably strong Chinese demand story."
The festival season in top consumer India is under way, with
Dhanteras -- the day jewellers register the year's highest gold
sales -- slated for early next month. []
"The market is getting a little more (cautious) and even
though the long run sentiment is still bullish, investors will
prefer to take a breather here, while the downside remains well
supported in any case," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey
Kryuchenkov.
Among the other precious metals, silver <XAG=> was down
about 0.3 percent at $23.82 an ounce, while platinum <XPT=> rose
0.1 percent to $1,680 an ounce and palladium <XPD=> drew
strength from the rally in the base metal complex and rose
nearly 2 percent to $595.99 an ounce.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
