SINGAPORE, May 7 (Reuters) - Gold edged down on Friday as
some investors sold after the metal rose toward an all-time
high the previous day on the euro-zone debt crisis and a
suspected trading error that saw U.S. stocks plunge 9 percent
before recovering some lost ground.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,206.70 an ounce, down 55 cents
from New York's notional close on Thursday, when it jumped 3
percent to its highest since December 2009 at $1,210.35 an
ounce. Gold struck record at $1,226.10 five months ago.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund,
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at a record high
of 1,185.787 tonnes as of May 6, up from 1,166.002 tonnes in
the previous business day. []
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> added $9.9 an
ounce to $1,207.20.
* Gold priced in euro <XAUEUR=R> and sterling <XAUGBP=R>
held near Thursday's record.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks plunged 9 percent in the last two hours of
trading on Thursday in a suspected trading glitch before
clawing back some of the losses as the escalating debt crisis
in Europe stoked fears a new credit crunch was in the making.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> dropped 347.80 points,
or 3.20 percent, to 10,520.32.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 37.75 points,
or 3.24 percent, to 1,128.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index
<> lost 82.65 points, or 3.44 percent, to 2,319.64. []
* Sterling was nursing huge losses in Asia on Friday after
a global rout from risk sent the U.S. dollar and yen soaring,
and pressured further by exit polls suggesting no one party in
the UK would hold a majority in parliament. []
* Japan's Nikkei average fell more than 4 percent to a
two-month low on Friday, dragged down by exporters such as
Canon Inc <7751.T> after U.S. stocks plunged as much as 9
percent as a wave of selling triggered by Europe's debt crisis
gathered speed. []
* U.S. crude futures stood little changed above $77 a
barrel on Friday after falling 3.6 percent a day earlier on
growing fears that the Greek debt crisis could engulf other
economies and hurt oil demand. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Friday <ECON>
- U.S. Non-farm payrolls April (1230 GMT)
- U.S. Unemployment April (1230 GMT)
- U.S. Avg hourly earnings April (1230 GMT)
- U.S. ECRI inflation April (1340 GMT)
- U.S. ECRI weekly index (1430 GMT)
- U.S. Consumer credit March (1900 GMT)
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Precious metals prices at 0034 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1206.70 -0.55 -0.05 10.13
Spot Silver 17.61 0.00 +0.00 4.63
Spot Platinum 1656.00 31.00 +1.91 12.88
Spot Palladium 495.50 -7.00 -1.39 22.19
TOCOM Gold 3548.00 0.00 +0.00 8.87
35389
TOCOM Platinum 4888.00 -126.00 -2.51 11.57
18598
TOCOM Silver 52.30 -0.90 -1.69 1.16
270
TOCOM Palladium 1450.00 -71.00 -4.67 24.46
786
Euro/Dollar 1.2603
Dollar/Yen 91.21
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Lane)
