(Updates to Tokyo mid-session, adds comments)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, May 2 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near a four-month low
on Friday, weighed down by the dollar's recovery against the
euro and lower oil prices, with sharp draws in gold
exchange-traded funds providing additional pressure.
Light short-covering kept cash gold near late New York
levels after losing about 6 percent in the last week. Gold fell
as far as $847.10 an ounce on Thursday -- the lowest since early
January.
By 0247 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was at $851.55/852.55 an
ounce, slightly up from $850.25/851.65 in late New York.
"The trend is clearly downward. Sentiment deteriorated
further after slipping below the psychological level of $850,"
said Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in
Tokyo.
"Gold was falling as the dollar rebounded strongly. The
outlook for gold also turned very weak after seeing sharp
drawdowns in gold ETFs."
Gold held in New York-listed StreetTRACKS Gold Shares
<XAUEXT-NYS-TT>, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, fell to 580.45 tonnes as of Wednesday, shedding nearly 10
percent of its holdings in the last 10 days.
Kageyama said gold could fall further after slipping below
$850 the previous day and could test $800 depending on the moves
in the dollar and oil prices.
Cash gold slipped through key moving average levels
following falls in the past two weeks. The next key support is
around the 200-day moving average of $823.46.
COMEX gold futures rebounded on Friday after losing 1.6
percent in New York. The June contract <GCM8> was up $2.3 or
0.27 percent at $853.2 from the New York settlement on Thursday.
Japanese precious metals futures fell sharply in line with
falls in post-Tokyo trade on Thursday, with gold futures
<0#JAU:> down 1.5 percent at a one-month low and platinum
<0#JPL:> diving nearly 4 percent to a five-week low.
The key April 2009 gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange <0#JAU:> closed the morning session down 44 yen, or 1.5
percent, at 2,887 yen per gram from Thursday's 2,931 yen.
On Thursday, the dollar rose to five-week highs against the
euro after a key U.S. manufacturing index for April came in
slightly better than expected.
Traders were awaiting the April U.S. employment report due
at 1230 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect to see 80,000
jobs lost in the month, a repeat of the March loss. The
unemployment rate is seen at 5.2 percent compared with a 5.1
percent a month earlier. []
U.S. crude oil futures fell on easing supply worries in
Nigeria and concerns that demand, especially in the United
States, is being curbed by high prices.
Front-month U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> was down 55
cents, or 0.5 percent, at $111.97 a barrel on electronic
trading. It extended losses on Thursday, when it settled lower
by 94 cents, or 0.83 percent, at $112.52.
Platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,832/1,852 an ounce from
$1,860.50/1,880.50 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> fell to $400.00/408.00 an ounce from
$406/414.
Silver <XAG=> was little changed at $16.16/16.21 an ounce
versus $16.16/16.22 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0247 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 851.55 -0.10 -0.01 2.26
Spot Silver 16.15 0.02 +0.12 9.34
Spot Platinum 1832.50 -27.50 -1.48 20.56
Spot Palladium 400.00 -4.50 -1.11 8.70
TOCOM Gold 2887.00 -44.00 -1.50 -5.65 30445
TOCOM Platinum 5972.00 -239.00 -3.85 11.86 14645
TOCOM Silver 550.20 -14.10 -2.50 1.70 965
TOCOM Palladium 1371.00 -47.00 -3.31 1.48 1321
Euro/Dollar 1.5472
Dollar/Yen 104.60
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for silver which is in yen
per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Brent Kininmont)
