TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Wednesday after
hitting a two-month high the previous day, with investors
pondering whether to push prices up if the dollar weakens further
as they become more wary of high price levels.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Gold <XAU=> was down 0.2 percent at $964.90 per ounce as of
0000 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $966.75 per
ounce. Spot gold rose to a two-month high of $970.05 on Tuesday.
* U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> fell 0.2
percent to $968.10 per ounce, compared to $969.70 an ounce on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures
rose above $970 to a two-month high on Tuesday.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,072.87 tonnes as
of Aug. 4, unchanged from the previous business day. []
* The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its bullion holdings fell 3.47
tonnes or 0.04 percent to 8,824.67 tonnes as of Aug. 4. It hit a
record 8,828.14 tonnes on July 31.
MARKET NEWS
* The Nikkei average was up 0.3 percent. []
* U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by the financial
sector as economic data pointed to a sustained if slow recovery
from the recession, taking the Dow and the S&P 500 to nine-month
highs. The Nasdaq achieved its highest close since early October.
[]
* The dollar hovered near its 2009 low against the euro on
Wednesday after gaining modestly the previous day when
surprisingly strong U.S. pending homes sales data underscored
hopes that the worst of the U.S. recession is over. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday: <ECON>
- German July services PMI. (0753 GMT)
- Euro zone July services PMI. (0758 GMT)
- Euro zone july composite PMI. (0758 GMT)
- UK June industrial production. (0830 GMT)
- Euro zone June retail sales. (0900 GMT)
- U.S. ADP employment report for July. (1215 GMT)
- U.S. factory orders for June. (1400 GMT)
- U.S. ISM non-manufacturing for July. (1400 GMT)
RELATED NEWS
>Gold rises above $970 on weak dollar, risk appetite []
>Markets pause as banks, Toyota offer more hope []
>US June consumer spending, pending home sales up []
>Oil falls on profit-taking, market awaits US data[]
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0000GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $965.10 -$1.65 -0.17% +7.59% $860.10 69
Spot silver $14.57 -$0.04 -0.27% +21.62% $11.29 72
Spot plat $1260.50 -$5.00 -0.40% +32.82% $948.98 73
COMEX gold $965.80 $77.60 +8.74% +7.37% $857.64 68
TOCOM gold 2,965 382 +14.79% +13.65% 2,476 69
TOCOM plat 3,858 1118 +40.80% +39.53% 2,659 74
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.441 $0.128 +9.73% +9.39%
Dlr/yen 95.30 4.92 +5.44% +7.17%
(Reporting by Chikako Mogi)
