* SPDR Gold Trust holdings unchanged at record
* Retreat in gold prices weighs on other precious metals
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Spot gold edged down on Tuesday
with investors growing cautious about the pace of its recent
rally after a round of physical selling pulled down the precious
metal from a four-month high the previous day.
Gold rose near $1,170 per ounce on Monday, up about $50 from
a trough at the beginning of April, supported by investors
fleeing to safety amid lingering concerns about Europe's
financial stability, symbolised by Greece's debt crisis.
But the last round of buying was mainly by traders who had
sold earlier to cut further losses, suggesting the technically
driven momentum will likely be short-lived, traders said.
"The latest gains on Friday and early Monday morning in Asia
were due mainly to technical buying, and such a rally usually
paves the way for a technical correction," said Kaname Gokon,
deputy general manager of the research section at commodity
brokerage Okato Shoji Co.
"The market could test the next support levels of
$1,140-$1,130 by the end of this week," he said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was down 0.3 percent at $1,151.80 per ounce
at 0330 GMT compared with New York's notional close of $1,155.00.
On Monday, gold rose as high as $1,168.70 an ounce, its
highest since Dec. 4, but later eased as the euro retreated from
highs amid fears its rise may have been overdone.
Also, physical selling put a lid on gains, and investor
demand for the precious metal has lessened as the prospects for a
global economic recovery remain uncertain.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> fell 0.8 percent
to $1,152.60 per ounce compared with $1,162.20 on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The currency market provided few clues to direction.
The euro consolidated, hovering below one-month highs as a
bout of short covering fizzled and some fretted over whether a
rescue package for debt-laden Greece would provide a lasting
solution. []
Underlining a halt in investor buying, holdings by the
world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund stayed unchanged
on Monday. The holdings by the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> totalled
1,141.041 tonnes, flat from an all-time high marked the previous
business day. []
A fall in gold weighed on prices of other precious metals,
with spot palladium <XPD=> falling 1 percent to $511.25 per
ounce. It hit a two-year high of $522.50 marked on Monday.
Spot platinum <XPT=> edged down to $1,715.50 a day after
hitting a 20-month high of $1,736.50. Silver <XAG=> was down 0.7
percent at $18.08.
Precious metals prices at 0329 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1151.70 -3.30 -0.29 5.11
Spot Silver 18.06 -0.13 -0.71 7.31
Spot Platinum 1711.50 -8.50 -0.49 16.67
Spot Palladium 510.75 -5.75 -1.11 25.96
TOCOM Gold 3440 -58.00 -1.66 5.55 41035
TOCOM Platinum 5089 -63.00 -1.22 16.16 13832
TOCOM Silver 54 -1.60 -2.86 5.03 498
TOCOM Palladium 1520 -20.00 -1.30 30.47 285
Euro/Dollar 1.3586
Dollar/Yen 92.6100
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)
