* Platinum, palladium off Tuesday's highs
* SPDR Gold holdings steady, iShares Silver inches down
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose above $1,120 per
ounce on Wednesday although a slightly firmer dollar versus the
euro capped gains, while platinum was off a 16-month high marked
in the previous session.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,123.25 an ounce by 0638 GMT, up
0.5 percent compared to New York's notional close of $1,118.10.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG0> were at
$1,124.10, also up 0.5 percent.
Wong Eng Soon, investment analyst at Phillip Futures Pte
Ltd, said he remained positive about gold's outlook for now.
"I'm quite optimistic on gold because ... although there are
expectations that the Fed will be raising rates, the wording
from the Fed's statement hasn't been changed yet, meaning that
they'll still keep rates low (for the time being)," he said.
"I think gold will be quite well supported."
Higher rates typically boost the dollar and pressure gold,
which is often used as an alternative to the U.S. currency.
U.S. December employment data due out on Friday, which is
expected to shape the outlook for a rate hike from the Federal
Reserve, remained a focus in the market.
In the currency market, the ADP's employment report and ISM
non-manufacturing index for December were also attracting
attention, along with the minutes from the Fed's last policy
meeting, all due later in the day.
The euro inched down to $1.4348 <EUR=> after falling the
previous day on dollar-buying as it failed to decisively break
above $1.4450. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,128.745 tonnes as
of Jan. 5, unchanged from the previous business day. []
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its silver holdings were at
9,488.81 tonnes as of Jan. 5, down 0.04 percent from the
previous business day. []
Platinum and its sister metal palladium maintained their
recent momentum, but were off their highest prices in well over
a year marked on Tuesday.
Anticipation of industrial demand spurred by Tuesday's data
showing strong December sales by Ford Motor Co <F.N> in the
United States had helped buying of platinum and palladium, which
are used as auto catalysts to clean car exhaust fumes.
Strong economic data and any other indication of a robust
economic recovery is likely to spur buying of both metals again,
traders said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,535.00 per ounce, up 0.4
percent from the New York notional close of $1,528.50, after
earlier falling to a low of $1,513.50.
It hit a 16-month high of $1,535.50 on Tuesday.
Palladium <XPD=> was at $421 per ounce, up 0.7 percent from
New York's notional close. It rose to $424 in the previous
session, its strongest level since July 2008.
Precious metals prices at 0636 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1123.40 5.30 +0.47 2.53
Spot Silver 17.90 0.14 +0.79 6.36
Spot Platinum 1534.00 5.50 +0.36 4.57
Spot Palladium 421.00 3.00 +0.72 3.82
TOCOM Gold 3338.00 12.00 +0.36 2.42 53291
TOCOM Platinum 4554.00 67.00 +1.49 3.95 19364
TOCOM Silver 53.50 1.00 +1.90 3.48 916
TOCOM Palladium 1251.00 1.00 +0.08 7.38 662
Euro/Dollar 1.4353
Dollar/Yen 92.00
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Joseph Radford)
