* Summer holidays curb trade, gold doesn't have own momentum
* SPDR Gold holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> steady
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady above $940
an ounce on Thursday, underpinned by light physical buying, but
the topside was capped by firmness in the dollar, which makes the
precious metal expensive for investors holding other currencies.
Trade was slow with many major players away on summer
vacation, and it could stay that way until after the U.S. Labor
Day holiday in early September, traders said.
Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $945.20 an ounce as of 0306 GMT,
up 0.1 percent from New York's notional close of $944.10.
It hit a one-week high of $957.65 on Friday, but has since
come under pressure as the dollar gained ground amid caution over
the global economy, tempering demand from such countries as
India.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> edged up to
$946.90 an ounce after falling 20 cents to $945.80 on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
"There's a small amount of physical buying at the low $940s.
But there's nothing dramatic. That's why the prices got stuck
here," said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scotia Mocatta in Hong Kong.
"I suspect that will remain the case until after the U.S.
Labor Day holiday when most of the people, including fund
managers, return from their holiday," he said.
He added that gold could be caught in a range of between $935
and $955 in coming days, focusing mainly on the currency and
equity markets for near-term direction.
"It seems that gold doesn't really have its own momentum to
move anywhere."
In the currency market, the dollar held onto broad gains on
Thursday as investor fatigue in riskier assets like stocks set
in, while there were concerns that China's plan to curb redundant
investment could dent Chinese shares. []
Investors tend to buy the dollar and yen as safe havens or
unwind trades in higher-yielding assets financed with the U.S.
and Japanese currencies when recovery optimism fades.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, stayed unchanged at 1,061.83
tonnes on Wednesday from the previous business day. []
Among other precious metals, platinum <XPT=> was little
changed and hovered below the previous day's high of $1,249.50 an
ounce marked after news of a strike at Impala Platinum's <IMPJ.J>
Rustenberg mine in South Africa.
South Africa's biggest union later said the strike at the
world's No.2 platinum producer's biggest mine may spread to the
entire company after wage talks broke down. []
Platinum stood at $1,231 per ounce, compared with New York's
notional close of $1,232.
Precious metals prices at 0309 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Spot Gold 945.10 1.00 +0.11 7.38
Spot Silver 14.26 -0.04 -0.28 25.97
Spot Platinum 1230.50 -1.50 -0.12 32.03
Spot Palladium 283.50 -0.50 -0.18 53.66
TOCOM Gold 2862.00
TOCOM Platinum 3718.00
TOCOM Silver 431.00
TOCOM Palladium 860.00
Euro/Dollar 1.4248
Dollar/Yen 93.85
Distant August TOCOM futures contracts started trading on
Thursday. TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which
is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)
