* Gold hovers near one-week low
* SPDR gold ETF dips 0.7 pct, off record
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near a one-week
low on Friday, pressured by strength in equities, while dealers
took a drop from record holdings in the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund as a sign investor demand may
be receding.
Holdings by New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> fell 0.7
percent from the record high it first reached -- then
subsequently maintained -- on April 9. []
Holdings fell to 1,119.43 tonnes by April 16, down 8.25
tonnes from the previous day. The trust's holdings have fallen
about 1 percent so far in April, versus a rise of roughly 4
percent in the comparable period last month.
Gold fell to a one-week low on Thursday on signs of a
slowdown in investment demand on budding optimism that the
economy was on the mend.
Sluggish physical buying has also failed to provide much
support for prices, analysts said.
"Gold markets are much lower.... as the stock markets are
moving higher again," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip
Futures.
Koh said that although he was technically a little bearish
about gold in the near term, he believed gold's long-term
prospects remained solid.
"Yes, we are starting to see a bit of a decline (in the
SPDR), but it's still not a very large figure, compared to how
much we have gained in gold holdings over the past couple of
months," he said.
Gold <XAU=> was at $874.70 per ounce by 0250 GMT, up 0.02
percent from New York's notional close of $874.55.
It has fallen about 2 percent since the beginning of this
week.
India's gold buyers continued to trickle in to stock up the
yellow metal to meet festive demand, traders said.
Akshaya Tritiya, which falls on April 27, is the
second-most auspicious day to buy gold after Dhanteras.
[]
Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.2 percent as banks climbed
after reassuring earnings from JPMorgan, while steelmakers
surged on a report that Nippon Steel <5401.T> had negotiated a
smaller-than-expected price cut with Toyota Motor Corp
<7203.T>.
The yen slipped against the dollar and other majors on
Friday as short-term traders pushed it down. []
Signs that the global economic downturn may be easing have
helped boost platinum, which is used in autocatalysts.
The metal, also used in jewellery, has fallen a touch since
hitting a 6-1/2-month high of $1,244 per ounce on Monday, but
has managed to stay above $1,200.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,205.0 an ounce, up from its
notional close of $1,201.5.
Precious metals prices at 0248 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 874.90 0.35 +0.04 -0.60
Spot Silver 12.22 0.01 +0.08 7.95
Spot Platinum 1205.00 3.50 +0.29 29.29
Spot Palladium 232.00 1.00 +0.43 25.75
TOCOM Gold 2812.00 -28.00 -0.99 9.29
19467
TOCOM Platinum 3875.00 9.00 +0.23 46.12
6799
TOCOM Silver 389.80 -11.80 -2.94 22.08
301
TOCOM Palladium 759.00 -4.00 -0.52 38.00
125
Euro/Dollar 1.3128
Dollar/Yen 99.50
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for TOCOM silver which
is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi)
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
