* Gold falls back after rising above $902
* SPDR gold holdings at record above 800 tonnes
* Dollar slips against euro ahead of Fed meeting
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Gold lost early gains to
profit taking on Wednesday, but the price held near its
strongest in more than three months as troubles in the
financial sector spurred investors to look for havens from
market turmoil.
Gold was 13 percent above a 1-month low around $801 hit two
weeks ago and around 12 percent below a lifetime high of
$1,030.80 struck last March, with investment demand also
pushing exchange traded fund holdings to a record above 800
tonnes.
Gold <XAU=> hit a high of $902.90 an ounce before falling
to $892.80 an ounce by 0706 GMT, down $4.55 from New York's
notional close on Tuesday. Bullion rallied to $915.30 on
Monday, its highest since early October.
"Gold scraps have been coming before we closed for the
Chinese New Year and now they are still here. I guess people
are taking profits," said a physical dealer in Singapore,
referring to sales by jewellers in Asia.
But dealers said record high holdings in the world's
largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust
<GLD>, showed longer-term investors were entering the market,
where sentiment improved after bullion this week breached $900
for the first time since October.
"The gold-dollar relationship has weakened recently. That
pretty much brings the 'safe-haven' factor into play again,"
said Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"Investors are probably more concerned about what's
happening in the markets now and feel that gold will probably
be the standout winner against the other currencies."
The SPDR Gold Trust said it held 832.88 tonnes of gold as
of Jan. 27, unchanged from record levelson the previous day but
up 0.31 tonnes from Jan. 23. Holdings have gone up more than 7
percent in the past month. []
A Reuters survey of 52 analysts published on Monday showed
most expect gold to hold its ground in 2009 despite expected
falls in other asset prices, on worries over the global
economic outlook and turmoil in the financial markets.
[]
In other markets, the dollar slipped against the euro
<EUR=> as investors awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve
meeting that could unveil new steps to ease the credit crunch.
[]
Japan's Nikkei average <> bounced after being weighed
by worries about earnings. <.T>
Crude oil regained some of its losses from the previous
day, when prices dived 9 percent as economic jitters in the
United States stirred energy demand concerns. []
Premiums for gold bars were unchanged at 50 U.S. cents an
ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore. <GOLD/ASIA1>
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $940.00 an ounce, down $5
from New York's notional close.
New York gold futures <GCZ9> eased $5.6 an ounce to $893.9
in electronic trade.
Precious metals prices at 0706 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 892.80 -4.55 -0.51 7.22
Spot Silver 12.02 0.01 +0.08 -18.62
Spot Platinum 940.00 -5.00 -0.53 -38.16
Spot Palladium 189.00 0.50 +0.27 -48.64
TOCOM Gold 2569.00 -40.00 -1.53 -16.05
36832
TOCOM Platinum 2709.00 -56.00 -2.03 -49.26
7153
TOCOM Silver 340.00 -6.80 -1.96 -37.15
436
TOCOM Palladium 554.00 -10.00 -1.77 -58.99
124
Euro/Dollar 1.3240
Dollar/Yen 89.20
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
