By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Gold inched down to hover around
$890, pausing from a rally late last week when it rose 5
percent on strong investment demand that is seen intact amid
signs that the economic downturn will persist.
By 0436 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was down nearly 1 percent at
$890.60 an ounce against New York's notional close of $898.10.
On Friday, the precious metal reached record highs in both
sterling and euro terms, signalling bullion's strength against
not only the U.S. dollar, but currencies across the board.
"Gold is again attracting attention as a safe-haven and a
good place to place your money," said Koji Suzuki, a senior
analyst at SBI Futures Co Ltd.
One sign of this came in news that the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>,
which rose to a new record of 832.57 tonnes of gold by Jan. 23,
was up 13.46 tonnes from 819.11 tonnes on Jan. 22.
[]
For details of gold holdings by the ETF listed in New York
and also co-listed on other exchanges, click on:
http://www.exchangetradedgold.com/iframes/usa.php
Changes in gold ETF holdings are closely watched by market
participants because sharp inflows in gold ETFs could be a
bullish signal as it shows longer-term retail investors are
entering the market.
Activity in Asia was subdued, however, as many financial
markets were closed on Monday to mark the Lunar New Year
holiday, including China's stock, money and foreign exchange
markets.
In one of the latest comments on the U.S. economy,
President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, Lawrence
Summers, would not rule out on Sunday the chance that more
money may be needed to stabilize the U.S. financial system as
the deep recession swells banks' losses. []
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG9> inched down
to $891.7 yen per ounce from $895.80, its settlement on Friday
on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil fell on Monday, cutting into a 14 percent three-day
gain as traders set aside the latest evidence of OPEC's
production cuts to focus on forecasts for a deepening global
economic downturn and the stronger dollar. []
The dollar stayed close to a 23-year high against the
sterling and a six-week high versus the euro both reached late
last week, when dismal British and euro zone data led investors
to shift money from European currencies to the greenback.
[]
The euro slid 0.6 percent to $1.2896 <EUR=>, while sterling
fell 1.3 percent versus the dollar to $1.3623 <GBP=D4>.
Gold's strong performance last week helped boost the
benchmark December contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange
<0#JAU:>, which rose as high as 2,565 yen per gram, up 132 yen
or over 5 percent, before drifting down to 2,562 yen at 0345
GMT.
Lihir Gold Ltd <LGL.AX>, Australia's second-biggest listed
gold producer, has been forced to shut its mine in Papua New
Guinea because of landowner disputes, the firm said on Monday.
[]
Platinum <XPT=> inched down to $953.50 an ounce from
$955.50 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> slipped to $190 an ounce from $195.
Silver <XAG=> dipped to $11.86 an ounce from $11.92 late in
New York.
Precious metals prices at 0354 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 890.35 -7.75 -0.86 1.16
Spot Silver 11.86 -0.06 -0.50 4.77
Spot Platinum 959.00 3.50 +0.37 2.90
Spot Palladium 190.00 -5.00 -2.56 2.98
TOCOM Gold 2562.00 129.00 +5.30 -0.43 29705
TOCOM Platinum 2746.00 132.00 +5.05 3.54 6506
TOCOM Silver 337.00 17.40 +5.44 5.54 533
TOCOM Palladium 546.00 33.00 +6.43 -0.73 262
Euro/Dollar 1.2925
Dollar/Yen 89.21 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except
for silver which is in yen per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per
ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
