(Updates prices)
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Gold inched down to hover under
$900, pausing from a rally late last week when it rose 5
percent on strong investment demand that is seen intact amid
signs the economic downturn will persist.
By 0745 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> recouped some of its earlier
losses to trade at $895.65 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> regained
ground to $897.1 yen per ounce from $895.80, its settlement on
Friday on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
The dollar climbed on Monday, moving back near a 23-year
high against sterling and a six-week high versus the euro as
fears about the global recession and banking sector problems
pushed investors away from risk. []
Sterling was down 1.6 percent versus the dollar at $1.3580
<GBP=D4>, having hit a 23-year trough of $1.3500 on Friday.
The euro was down 0.6 percent at $1.2915, after falling as
far as $1.2861 <EUR=>.
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. []
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.
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=> was flat at $955.50, recovering from an
earlier slide.
Palladium <XPD=> slipped to $191 an ounce from $195.
Silver <XAG=> inched up to $11.94 from $11.92 late in New
York.
Precious metals prices at 0800 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 896.60 -1.50 -0.17 1.87
Spot Silver 11.94 0.02 +0.17 5.48
Spot Platinum 957.00 1.50 +0.16 2.68
Spot Palladium 191.00 -4.00 -2.05 3.52
TOCOM Gold 2564.00 131.00 +5.38 -0.35
52913
TOCOM Platinum 2739.00 125.00 +4.78 3.28
9793
TOCOM Silver 336.00 16.40 +5.13 5.23
668
TOCOM Palladium 546.00 33.00 +6.43 -0.73
335
Euro/Dollar 1.2902
Dollar/Yen 88.61 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)
