* SDPR Gold Trust holdings ease 0.608 tonnes
* Coming up: U.S. consumer price index at 1230 GMT
* For technicals on gold, click []
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched lower but
held above $1,200 an ounce on Friday as trading was subdued
with investors looking for catalysts to break out of recent
narrow ranges.
Gold has been stuck in a $100 range between $1,165 and
$1,265 since the start of May, with the band narrowing further
to $30, between $1,190 and $1,220, over the past two weeks.
The market has drawn support from euro zone sovereign debt
problems, concerns about the global economy and a cautious
stance towards risk-taking, all of which highlight bullion's
appeal as a hedge.
Spot gold <XAU=> was $1,206.60 per ounce as of 0519 GMT,
compared to the late New York level of $1,207.75.
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Technically, spot gold signalled a neutral direction but
with a downside bias.
The 25-day moving average, which has served as firm
resistance, stood around $1,222 on Friday.
One factor to watch in the near term was the trend in the
holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds, said Ronald
Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said holdings eased to 1,314.211
tonnes as of Thursday, down 0.608 tonnes from the previous
business day. []
"A decline in the holdings is putting pressure on gold," he
said. "The market also sees prices as too expensive," as they
are just a few dollars below a key resistance point of $1,220,
he said.
At current levels, gold was set for a weekly fall of 0.2
percent. Gold rallied to an all-time high of $1,264.90 an ounce
on June 21.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> were at
$1,206.50 per ounce, slightly down from $1,208.30 on the COMEX.
With summer holidays approaching, trading is expected to
thin later this month. Japanese financial markets will be
closed on Monday for a national holiday and resume trading on
Tuesday.
Leung said firm support was seen at $1,185-$1,190.
"Investors don't know what to do after selling gold because
they can't really put the money into other markets. So they are
still holding certain amounts of gold in their portfolios," he
said.
Japan's Nikkei share average <> fell more than 2
percent on Friday as investors took profits before a long
weekend, worried that the yen could advance further towards
15-year highs against the dollar on concern about the pace of
U.S. economic recovery. []
The dollar index <.DXY> was near 2-1/2-month lows as
investors continued to cut long positions in the greenback and
shifted towards the euro. []
Precious metals prices at 0523 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1206.80 -0.95 -0.08 10.14
Spot Silver 18.23 -0.03 -0.16 8.32
Spot Platinum 1510.85 -11.30 -0.74 2.99
Spot Palladium 458.03 -4.25 -0.92 12.95
TOCOM Gold 3386 -52.00 -1.51 3.90 41457
TOCOM Platinum 4270 -76.00 -1.75 -2.53 14241
TOCOM Silver 52 -0.70 -1.34 0.00 244
TOCOM Palladium 1294 -31.00 -2.34 11.07 312
Euro/Dollar 1.2916
Dollar/Yen 86.9900
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
