(Updates prices in late Asia trade)
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 0611 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was at $849.80/850.75 an ounce,
slightly down 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 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 $1.3 or 0.15
percent at $852.2 from the New York settlement.
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:> was trading down 44 yen, or 1.5 percent, at
2,887 yen per gram from the previous day'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 64
cents, or 0.5 percent, at $111.88 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 $1,826.50/1,846.50 an ounce from
$1,860.50/1,880.50 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> fell to $399.00/407.00 an ounce from
$406/414.
Silver <XAG=> inched down to $16.13/16.19 an ounce versus
$16.16/16.22 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0610 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 849.65 -2.00 -0.23 2.04
Spot Silver 16.13 0.00 +0.00 9.21
Spot Platinum 1826.00 -34.00 -1.83 20.13
Spot Palladium 398.50 -6.00 -1.48 8.29
TOCOM Gold 2887.00 -44.00 -1.50 -5.65 46844
TOCOM Platinum 5970.00 -241.00 -3.88 11.82 22537
TOCOM Silver 550.70 -13.60 -2.41 1.79 1359
TOCOM Palladium 1369.00 -49.00 -3.46 1.33 2016
Euro/Dollar 1.5451
Dollar/Yen 104.68
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)
