* SPDR holdings unchanged
* Economic data suggests recovery speeding up
* Turkey's gold imports set to hit historic low this year
(Recasts throughout, previous TOKYO)
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Spot gold held firm on Friday,
supported by expectations that further dollar weakness could
spur bullion to record highs.
Gold <XAU=> edged up to $1,060.90 an ounce by 0945 GMT, up
from New York's notional close of $1,060.00.
At its current level, it is poised to rise 0.7 percent on
the week and more than 5 percent since the start of October.
Dollar weakness has boosted investor interest in the metal
as a hedge against the U.S. currency, while also making gold
cheaper for investors holding other currencies. []
"It's hard to be madly bearish while the dollar's weakening
and while there's huge monetary stimulus out there," David
Thurtell, an analyst at Citi, said of gold.
He added that the precious metal could reach $1,200 in the
next six months if the dollar continued to weaken.
Earlier on Friday U.S. currency -- down more than 7 percent
so far this year -- hit a low for the year against the euro
<EUR=>. It is pressured by expectations U.S. interest rates will
remain low for a long time.
"The downtrend remains intact," Andrey Kryuchenkov, an
analyst at VTB Capital, said of the dollar in a note.
"And more losses here could see gold retesting the top of
the current range," he said.
"We should continue trading between $1,042 and $1,070."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$1,061.8 an ounce, up 0.3 percent, after falling $5.90 to
$1,058.60 on Thursday.
IMPROVING DATA
A recent bout of improving data suggests the global economic
recovery might be gathering speed.
"Indications that the global economy is recovering is
helpful for gold fabrication demand," Thurtell said.
Among a flurry of data out on Friday were figures showing
euro zone services business grew at its fastest pace in 20
months in October, while manufacturing activity expanded for the
first time in over a year. []
After hitting record highs above $1,070 per ounce last week,
gold prices have been in a narrow range centering around $1,060.
Gold is also seen as a safe haven at a time when the
economic outlook is uncertain.
But so far, no strong money inflows have been detected going
into gold-backed securities.
Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, stood at 1,108.094 tonnes on
Thursday, unchanged from the previous business day when the
holdings fell 1.22 tonnes. []
The Russian government wants to sell to the world market
20-50 tonnes of gold <XAU=> from the state repository Gokhran
until the end of this year, a source familiar with the matter
told Reuters on Friday. []
Also, Turkey's gold imports will fall by more than two
thirds to a historic low of less than 50 tonnes this year on
record bullion prices and an increase in sales of scrap, a
senior industry official said. []
Among other precious metals silver <XAG= was at $17.69 from
$17.65. Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,366 from $1,365 and palladium
<XPD=> was at $336 from $334.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
