* Gold below 4-week high, palladium off 2-year high
* Japanese dealers see light buying on palladium
* Coming Up: Minutes of FOMC March meeting, 1800 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday from a
four-week high hit in the previous session, while palladium
flirted with $500 an ounce as a firmer U.S. dollar kept the
metal just below Monday's two-year high.
Tokyo dealers noted buying by local autocatalyst makers but
the volume was small and there was an absence of interest from
consumers outside Japan. Investors also waited for minutes of
the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy setting body's meeting in
March, which could offer clues on the direction of interest
rates.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,128.20 an ounce by 0556 GMT,
down $1.50 from New York's notional close on Monday, when it
hit an intraday high of $1,133.20, its strongest level since
March 8.
Palladium <XPD=> hit an intraday high of $500, just below
Monday's 2-year high of $500.50, before slipping to $498.75,
down $1.25. Sister metal platinum <XPT=> also fell around 1
percent after rallying to its highest since August 2008 at
$1,705.50 in the previous session.
"Actually, we don't see too much selling but I guess the
price has gone up too fast this morning when the liquidity is
small," said a physical dealer in Tokyo.
"We've also seen some buying from the industrial sector in
Japan but there are no inquiries from overseas buyers," he
added.
Physical dealers said some auto makers had shifted to using
more palladium in diesel and gasoline engines because the price
was much cheaper than platinum, while hopes for a further
recovery in the global auto sector also boosted demand.
Palladium and platinum ended the first quarter 17 percent and
12 percent higher respectively, surpassing the single-digit
gains posted by gold and silver.
Inflows into U.S. platinum and palladium exchange traded
funds and optimism about the global economic recovery have also
ignited bying of the underlying platinum group metals, which
are used in the auto industry for catalytic converters and also
in jewellery.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> fell $3.6 an
ounce to $1,130.2.
"There's a bit of selling on the physical side but there's
early buying also from India," said a dealer in Singapore,
referring to demand from the world's largest consumer ahead of
the wedding season this month.
"But volume is very small. I guess we are just watching
currencies now," he added.
Gold jewellery is the most common gift during religious
events in India, which accounts for 20 percent of global demand
for gold.
The euro resumed its downtrend on Tuesday as reports on
Greece's fiscal problems fuelled bearish sentiment, while the
yen seized back lost ground. []
U.S. data showing the economy's vast services sector grew
last month at its fastest pace since mid-2006 added to optimism
sparked by Friday's payrolls report, which showed employers
added jobs in March at the fastest clip in three years.
All this is likely to add to the markets' view that the
Federal Reserve will raise rate before its counterpart in
Japan. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1,129.823
tonnes as of April 5, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
Precious metals prices at 0556 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1128.20 -1.50 -0.13 2.97
Spot Silver 17.96 -0.06 -0.33 6.71
Spot Platinum 1688.00 -17.50 -1.03 15.06
Spot Palladium 498.75 -1.25 -0.25 23.00
TOCOM Gold 3420.00 -10.00 -0.29 4.94
46255
TOCOM Platinum 5095.00 3.00 +0.06 16.30
18936
TOCOM Silver 54.80 -0.30 -0.54 6.00
803
TOCOM Palladium 1500.00 5.00 +0.33 28.76
928
Euro/Dollar 1.3422
Dollar/Yen 94.01
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
