* Gold pauses for breath after rally, near 1-week high
* Nikkei average barely changed, yen off highs
* Oil falls $1 on concerns about demand
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Gold softened on Thursday,
pausing for breath after a rally the previous day, while
holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund hit a record as investors sought safety from global
financial turmoil.
The metal has gained as much as 10 percent this week as
fears of a global recession lifted its safe-haven appeal.
Gold <XAU=> traded at $900.70 an ounce, down $5.80 an ounce
from New York's notional close on Wednesday. It rose as high as
$920 an ounce on Wednesday, its strongest since Sept. 29, after
coordinated interest rate cuts by major central banks failed to
calm markets.
"Investors and the general public want to buy gold. $925 is
a very important target. If that level is exceeded, there will
be stop loss buying to $950," said Kazuhiko Saito of Interest
Capital Management in Tokyo.
Gold, which hovered around $925 and $950 in July, was still
well below a record high of $1,030.80 in March, when investors
rushed to buy the metal on a falling U.S. dollar and deepening
financial troubles in the United States.
Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, hit anotherrecord at 763.90
tonnes as of Oct. 9, up from 745.22 tonnes as ofOct. 8, which
reflected investor's growing interest in the metal.
For details on SPDR holdings, click on:
http://www.exchangetradedgold.com/iframes/usa.php
The International Monetary Fund issued its bleakest
forecast in years, saying the world economy was set for a major
downturn with the United States and Europe either in or on the
brink of recession. []
Gold would benefit from safe-haven buying as intervention
by central banks around the world failed to calm the nerves of
investors, said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in
Sydney.
"I think we sort of looking at the cap around $920. But I
suspect we'll probably look to test that again before long," he
said.
Central banks around the world cut interest rates in unison
on Wednesday but the move failed to help battered stocks, thaw
credit markets or temper forecasts for a sharp global economic
downturn. []
In other markets, oil slid below $88 a barrel which also
triggered light selling in gold. [].
The dollar rose 1.1 percent against the yen to 100.24 yen
<JPY=>, rebounding from a six-month low of 98.60 yen hit on
Wednesday. []
Platinum <XPT=> traded at $990.00 an ounce, down $0.50 from
New York's notional close, having hit an intraday high of
$1,005 Despite recent gains, fundamentals were poor due to
dismal car sales, which threatened to cut demand for
autocatalysts.
U.S. auto sales will fall further in 2009 from this year's
depressed levels as the escalating credit crisis hurts consumer
confidence, according to auto industry research firm Global
Insight. []
New York gold futures <GCZ8> fell $2.2 an ounce to $904.3
an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Precious metals prices at 0221 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 900.70 -5.80 -0.64 8.17
Spot Silver 11.69 -0.01 -0.09 -20.85
Spot Platinum 990.00 -0.50 -0.05 -34.87
Spot Palladium 193.50 1.00 +0.52 -47.42
TOCOM Gold 2889.00 -14.00 -0.48 -5.59
16764
TOCOM Platinum 3179.00 -51.00 -1.58 -40.46
7372
TOCOM Silver 374.60 -0.80 -0.21 -30.76
280
TOCOM Palladium 648.00 -4.00 -0.61 -52.04
171
Euro/Dollar 1.3630
Dollar/Yen 100.35
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
