* SPDR Gold Trust holdings unchanged at record
* Retreat in gold prices weighs on other precious metals
* Coming up: Redbook weekly U.S. retail sales at 1255 GMT
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 $1,151.70 per ounce
at 0526 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 the currency's 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 $1,152.70 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 of 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 $510.75 per
ounce. It hit a two-year high of $522.50 on Monday.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,708.00 a day after hitting a
20-month high of $1,736.50. Silver <XAG=> was down 0.4 percent at
$18.11.
Precious metals prices at 0530 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1152.25 -2.75 -0.24 5.16
Spot Silver 18.12 -0.07 -0.38 7.66
Spot Platinum 1710.00 -10.00 -0.58 16.56
Spot Palladium 508.50 -8.00 -1.55 25.40
TOCOM Gold 3446 -52.00 -1.49 5.74 48637
TOCOM Platinum 5084 -68.00 -1.32 16.05 18545
TOCOM Silver 54 -1.60 -2.86 5.03 561
TOCOM Palladium 1517 -23.00 -1.49 30.21 350
Euro/Dollar 1.3580
Dollar/Yen 92.7500
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Michael
Watson)
