* Gold seeks direction from the dlr, awaits U.S. data
* SPDR holdings stay at record high
* Platinum at six-month high, lifts palladium
(Recasts, updates prices and comments, pvs TOKYO)
By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - Gold traded rangebound on
Thursday, as the dollar steadied against a basket of major
currencies but was supported by robust investment appetite ahead
of a key U.S. growth data.
Platinum hit its highest in six-months and lifted palladium
more than 3.5 percent as the dollar's weakness over the past
couple of days has boosted industrial buying in platinum,
analysts said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $935.55 per ounce at 1039 GMT, up
slightly from $933.15 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday.
Bullion is 7 percent off the 11-month high above $1,000 set in
February, and way below an all-time peak of $1,030.80 hit in
March 2008.
"It really depends on what's going on in the currencies,"
said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at Heraeus.
"Plus the news on the broad economy and the financial system is
what is driving the market at the moment." .
Investors will be watching closely the final calculation of
U.S. fourth quarter growth data, due at 1230 GMT, to assess how
deep the recession is in the world's largest economy.
Gold got a boost on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner suggested he was open to expanding the use of
an IMF currency basket, stoking doubts over the dollar as the
world's reserve currency.
Geithner later said the dollar would keep its status as the
top reserve currency for a long time and the dollar steadied on
Thursday against major currencies after wild swings. By 1031
GMT, the dollar was 0.13 percent firmer against a basket of
currencies <.DXY>.
Gold is often viewed as an alternative to holding the
dollar, rising when the greenback falls. A weaker dollar also
makes gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.
Analysts were also betting the longer term effects of a U.S.
plan of quantitative easing would be negative for the dollar,
which in turn would support bullion.
INVESTMENT FLOWS SLOW?
The stock rally has dampened demand for gold over the past
couple of sessions, as investors saw risk appetite starting to
kick in again. European shares slipping on Thursday was another
factor which offered support.
"People are expecting higher equity prices and less risk
environment and some selling on the gold," Wrzesniok-Rossbach
said. "That probably is not going to change for the time being."
Investment appetite have boosted gold since the start of the
year, with holdings in the world's largest exchange traded fund
hitting fresh record highs consecutively.
But, analysts said the pace of the rise was begining to run
out of steam. "I don't think we've seen the same level of
investment into ETFs in the way we have seen earlier this year,"
said Tom Kendall, precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi.
"Gold really hasn't got that much pressure to move rapidly
on the upside," he said. The SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its
holdings remained at 1,124.99 tonnes on March 25, unchanged from
the record hit the previous day. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> touched $1,143.00 an ounce, its highest
since September 26 and was last at $1,1141 an ounce versus
$1,120 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday.
"The euro being stronger against the dollar has encouraged
some industrial buying," said Commzerbank trader Rory McVeigh,
"Not much but enough in a very thin market to lift it."
Spot silver <XAG=> edged up to $13.55 an ounce from
Wednesday's $13.45 an ounce while palladium <XPD=> rallied xx
percent to $215.50 an ounce from $208.50 an ounce.
For details on the gold holdings of the ETF listed in New
York and co-listed on other exchanges, click on:
http://www.exchangetradedgold.com/iframes/usa.php
For a graphic, click on:
https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/MKTS_SPDRGLD240309.jpg
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi in Tokyo, Editing by
William Hardy ((humeyra.pamuk@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
humeyra.pamuk.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 9736))
