* Premiums steady despite record high prices
* Gold may reach $1,305 an ounce - technicals
[]
* Coming up: U.S. FHFA Home price for July; 1400 GMT
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Gold was steady on
Wednesday, after hitting a fourth consecutive record in the
previous session, with the U.S. Federal Reserve moving closer
to providing more support to the economy.
The Fed on Tuesday laid the groundwork for further stimulus
measures and expressed stronger concerns about low inflation.
However, it made no policy shift at the end of the one-day
meeting. []
Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,288.70 an ounce by
0330 GMT, after touching a new record of $1,290.70 on Tuesday.
U.S. gold futures <GCZ0> rose 1.3 percent to $1,290.2 an ounce.
On the physical market, premiums in Hong Kong and Singapore
were little changed despite high prices.
"There is not much demand, and there is not much scrap
selling either," said Ronald Leung, a physical dealer at Lee
Cheong Gold Dealers, adding that the Fed's move closer to pump
more money into the economy makes investors want to hold on to
the bullion as a hedge against future inflation.
"If the interest rate turned around, it would probably
prompt people to dump gold and everything."
Premiums in Singapore also remained around 50 to 80 cents,
a Singapore-based dealer said.
"I reckon the customers are recovering from the aftershock
of $20 jump. Again it's a mixed market -- in Thailand we see
both physical demand and scrap selling, while Indonesian
clients have gone hiding this morning and nothing is seen from
India so far," said the dealer.
Spot gold is poised to rise to $1,305 per ounce, given a
strong bullish momentum, according to a Reuters market analyst
for commodities and energy technicals. []
Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, fell to 1,304.168 tonnes by Sept
21 from 1,304.472 tonnes on Sept 20. []
Holdings in the world's largest silver-backed
exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, jumped
127.81 tonnes, its biggest gain in nearly 10 months, to
9,509.55 tonnes.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose nearly 2 percent to $537 an
ounce. The price hit a near 4-month high of $563 on Sept 15.
"PGM (platinum group metals) market is following gold
market at this moment. As gold is at historical highs, same
type of speculation money is flowing into the PGM market and
prices move up sharply," said a Tokyo-based dealer, adding
there was not much action on the physical market.
The weakness in the dollar has helped support bullion. The
dollar fell to a 7-week low against a basket of currencies
<.DXY>, after the Fed meeting intensified speculation it would
take more measures to bolster the economy.[]
The dollar fell to its weakest on the yen since Japan
intervened last week. Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa
said the central bank will continue to provide ample liquidity
to markets, including funds supplied through currency
intervention. []
Precious metals prices at 0330 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1288.70 2.80 +0.22 17.61
Spot Silver 20.96 0.03 +0.14 24.54
Spot Platinum 1628.50 8.00 +0.49 11.01
Spot Palladium 537.00 10.50 +1.99 32.43
TOCOM Gold 3525.00 2.00 +0.06 8.16
30248
TOCOM Platinum 4464.00 -4.00 -0.09 1.89
9488
TOCOM Silver 57.50 0.50 +0.88 11.22
451
TOCOM Palladium 1470.00 -9.00 -0.61 26.18
255
Euro/Dollar 1.3305
Dollar/Yen 84.86
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
