PRECIOUS-Gold steadies at $1,050/oz in consolidation mode

                                
 TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $1,050 an ounce
on Friday after falling 1 percent the previous day as the dollar
stemmed recent losses, prompting consolidation in the precious
metal from a rally to record highs earlier this week.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,052.30 per ounce at 0006 GMT, up
0.2 percent from New York's notional close of $1,049.85.
                                
 * It hit a record high for two days in a row to reach
$1,070.40 on Wednesday. Its low on Thursday was $1,046.20.
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$1,053.60 per ounce, down 0.3 percent, after losing 1.3 percent
in the previous session.
                                
 * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,109.314
tonnes as of Oct. 15, unchanged since Oct. 7 [GOL/SPDR]
                                
 MARKET NEWS
                                
 * The dollar rose to its highest in three weeks against the
yen after encouraging U.S. data prompted some profit-taking on
the greenback's recent slide. The euro, however, remained near a
14-month peak above $1.49. [USD/]
                                
 * Japan's Nikkei share average <.N225> was up 0.3 percent.
[.T]
                                
 * Last-day strength drove U.S. stocks to 2009 highs on
Thursday as rising oi prices lifted energy shares, eclipsing the
banking sector's retreat after investors panned earnings from
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. [.N]
                                
 * Oil prices jumped more than 3 percent on Thursday to settle
at their highest level in a year after government data showed a
steep, unexpected drop in U.S. gasoline and distillate
inventories. [O/R]
                                
 * Barclays Plc <BARC.L> said late on Thursday it was
temporarily suspending further sales and issues of ipath Dow
Jones-UBS platinum subindex total return exchange traded notes.
[ID:nWNAB9683]
                                
 DATA EVENTS
                                
 * The following data is expected on Friday: <ECON>
                                
 - Swiss retail sales for Aug (0715 GMT)
                                
 - Eurozone foreign trade in Aug (0900 GMT)
                                
 - U.S. industrial output (1315 GMT)
                                
 - Reuters/Univ of Mich Oct consumer sentiment (1355 GMT)
                                
 RELATED NEWS
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>Harrods moves into flourishing gold market      [ID:nNLF714248]
>FUND VIEW-Gold at mercy of dollar-Castlestone    [ID:nLF651040]
>China's Zijin eyes $1 bln gold, copper ventures [ID:nMAN431837]
>Xstrata gives up on Anglo bid                    [ID:nLF510655]
                                
 PRICES
 Precious metals prices at 2345 GMT
 Metal         Last      Change  Pct chg  Day ago pct  MA 30  RSI
 Spot gold    $1051.30    $1.45  +0.14%   +17.20%    $860.10   64
 Spot silver    $17.41    $0.09  +0.52%   +45.33%     $11.29   56
 Spot plat    $1346.50   -$2.00  -0.15%    -0.85%   $1315.45   59
 TOCOM gold      3,077       12  +0.39%    +0.29%      2,960   77
 TOCOM plat      3,931       21  +0.54%    +0.56%      3,807   73
 Currencies
 Euro/dlr       $1.495   $0.018  +1.20%    +1.47%
 Dlr/yen         90.73     0.91  +1.01%    +1.13%
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams.  Spot prices in $ per ounce.
 (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)