* Bullion below 5-week high, speculators book profits
* Jewellers also sidelined, waiting for further correction
* Euro steady against dollar
(Updates prices, adds premiums)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 1 (Reuters) - Gold dropped on Tuesday as
speculators booked profits after pushing up the price to its
strongest level in five weeks, and a lack of buying from
jewellers could put pressure on the market.
Gold <XAU=> fell to $923.20/924.20 an ounce from
$925.95/927.15 in New York. Gold hit a high of $935 on Monday,
its strongest since May 22, after oil hit another record high
and spurred buying as the first half of the year came to a
close.
The physical sector becalmed after heavy selling from
holders in Indonesia and Thailand late on Monday, when gold
began rising. Premiums for gold bars were unchanged at between
40 and 60 U.S. cents an ounce to the spot London price.
<GOLD/ASIA1>.
"The upside momentum, I think, is capped for now. The
physical guys are not too keen to buy here," said William Kwan,
bullion director of Gold Capital Management in Singapore.
"Expect gold to be trading between $910 and $945 this
coming week as major breakoutsmight only occur after the
holidays," said Kwan, referring to the U.S. Independence Day
holiday on Friday.
Gold has rebounded nearly 6 percent since falling to a
1-week low at $873.50 last week but remained below a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 hit in March.
"Customers will be more than happy to buy again at below
$900. There was aggressive selling from the Indonesians, who
have bought gold at lower prices. We've also received a lot of
scrap from Thailand," said a dealer in Singapore.
Oil <CLc1> added 55 cents to $140.55 a barrel on Tuesday,
after slipping from a record high above $143 hit the previous
day as tension surrounding Iran's nuclear programme returned to
focus and outweighed concerns over eroding U.S. demand. []
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $2.2 an ounce
to $926.1.
The euro was steady at $1.5752 <EUR=>, supported by
expectations the European Central Bank will raise interest
rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent at a policy meeting on
Thursday, and possibly further beyond that. []
"The market needs to consolidate. Right now, I would expect
the market to see resistance around $928," said Louis Lok, a
dealer at Bank of China in Hong Kong.
"Maybe players need to see oil's next move, whether it can
hit another record high," he said.
In fundamental news, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, the world's
largest bullion-backedexchange-traded fund, said its gold
holdings rose by 2.5 percenton Friday, and were up 4.5 percent
week-on-week.[]
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,063.00/2,083.00 an ounce
from $2,060.00/2,080.00 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
was unchanged $459.00/467.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged down to $17.37/17.43 an ounce from
$17.38/17.43 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 32 yen
per gram to 6,957 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0511 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 923.20 -0.90 -0.10 10.87
Spot Silver 17.38 0.02 +0.12 17.67
Spot Platinum 2062.50 3.50 +0.17 35.69
Spot Palladium 459.00 0.00 +0.00 24.73
TOCOM Gold 3178.00 -5.00 -0.16 3.86
19772
TOCOM Platinum 6957.00 32.00 +0.46 30.31
12926
TOCOM Silver 600.00 -6.70 -1.10 10.91
619
TOCOM Palladium 1607.00 -10.00 -0.62 18.95
870
Euro/Dollar 1.5738
Dollar/Yen 106.08
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
