PRECIOUS-Gold steady below one-month low; investors on sidelines

                                
 * Longterm bullish trend intact - traders
                                
 * Gold may rise to $1,385-$1,390 range -technicals
 
                                
 * Coming up: U.S. industrial output, Jan; 1415 GMT

 (Updates prices)	
                                
 By Rujun Shen	
                                
 SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Wednesday just below a one-month low hit in the previous
session, as investors stood on sidelines of a market with no
clear trend for the short term, and with technical resistance
seen around $1,375.	
                                
 Inflation concerns continued to grow, as China reported
elevated, albeit weaker-than-expected, consumer price index data
for January, and inflation in Britain jumped to twice the Bank
of England's target in January.  	
                                
 Rising price pressure has stoked fears that central banks
might turn increasingly hawkish on interest rates, which could
hurt sentiment in gold.	
                                
 Spot gold edged up at $1,374.60 an ounce by 0703 GMT.
It hit a four-week high of $1,376.50 on Tuesday.	
                                
 U.S. gold futures was steady at $1,375.20.	
                                
 "We are seeing inflation rise globally," said Darren
Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia, "The bullish
trend is intact, although we'll see periods of weakness."	
                                
 Technical analysis showed that spot gold is expected to rise
into the $1,385-$1,390 range, as an uptrend has been established
while the contract climbs within a rising channel, said Reuters
market analyst Wang Tao.	
                                
 For a 24-hrs gold technical outlook: 	
                                
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20111602095131.jpg	
                                
 If gold could stand firmly above the key resistance level
around $1,375, it could move towards $1,400, traders said.	
                                
 "It's been quite a bounce, but there is some technical
resistance right around here and we've seen a bit selling to
take profit," said a Singapore-based trader.	
                                
 "I do think the story is intact. Just right now, it's not
particularly compelling."	
                                
 Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, slipped to 1,224.008 tonnes by
Feb. 15, its lowest since May last year. 	
                                
 The unfolding political unrest in Middle East nations
continued to attract attention of global investors. If the
situation deteriorates, investors could buy more of safe-haven
assets such as gold. Still, some market players said the
influence on the gold market might be insignificant.	
                                
 For a factbox on protests in Middle East and North Africa,
click 	
                                
 Spot palladium was steady at $835.50 an ounce, after
touching a ten-year high of $847 in the previous session.	
                                
 Spot silver edged down 0.2 percent at $30.70. 	
                                
 The gold-silver ratio, used to measure how many ounces of
silver is needed to buy an ounce of gold, rebounded from a
five-year low of 44.47 hit on Feb. 14 to 44.76.	
                                
 For a graphic on the ratio, click:	
                                
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/AS/0810/RJS_20111602123005.jpg	
                                
 	
 Precious metals prices 0703 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1374.60    1.65   +0.12     -3.16
  Spot Silver        30.70   -0.06   -0.20     -0.52
  Spot Platinum    1828.74    1.50   +0.08      3.46
  Spot Palladium    835.50    0.50   +0.06      4.50
  TOCOM Gold       3706.00   29.00   +0.79     -0.62        49326
  TOCOM Platinum   4968.00   -7.00   -0.14      5.79        13297
  TOCOM Silver       82.40    0.40   +0.49      1.73         1590
  TOCOM Palladium  2255.00   11.00   +0.49      7.53          481
  COMEX GOLD APR1  1375.20    1.10   +0.08     -3.25         8237
  COMEX SILVER MAR1  30.71    0.01   +0.05     -0.74         4090
  Euro/Dollar       1.3555
  Dollar/Yen         83.64
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months  
	
 (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Manash Goswami)	
 	
  
                                
Reuters
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