(Updates prices)
TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - Gold hardly budged on Wednesday,
taking a breather after falling sharply the previous day on a
stronger dollar.
Traders said investor selling has run out of steam for now
since gold showed resilience at around $860 an ounce late on
Tuesday, but sentiment was too weak to turn prices around.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $865.80/866.60 an ounce as of 0711
GMT, compared with $866.55/867.95 late on Tuesday in New York.
"The market is at a standstill," said Tatsuo Kageyama, an
analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management, adding that gold is expected
to hold in the recent range between $850 and $890.
"It is unlikely that sentiment will sour further after a
heavy sell-off recently. But if the $850 level, which is also
psychologically important, is broken through that could prompt a
fall to $820 and even to $800," he said.
On Tuesday, gold briefly slipped as low as $860.90, a
one-week trough, as the dollar rallied broadly after April U.S.
retail sales data came in stronger than expected, fuelling
optimism about the U.S. economy.
The dollar rose to 105.15 yen <JPY=>, up 0.3 percent from the
level in late U.S. trading on Tuesday.
The euro slipped 0.2 percent to $1.5425 <EUR=>.
Market players are awaiting the U.S. consumer price index for
April due later on Wednesday for further clues on whether the
Federal Reserve will pause in cutting interest rates at its next
policy meeting in June. []
NYMEX crude for June delivery <CLc1> was down 25 cents a
barrel at $125.55. It had surged to a record high near $127 on
Tuesday after a report that OPEC producer Iran had said it was
mulling a proposal to cut production.
Gold, usually seen by investors as a hedge against inflation,
often moves in line with oil prices.
But analysts said gold had recently failed to catch up with a
rally in the oil market, partly reflecting far less buying
interest by speculators in gold than in oil.
The most active June gold futures contract <GCM8> on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $3.3 to
$866.3 an ounce.
Yen-based gold futures for distant April delivery <0#JAU:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 11 yen a gram to 2,953 yen in
late trade.
Spot platinum <XPT=> stood at $2,043.50/2,053.50 an ounce, up
from around $2,037.50 in New York on Tuesday, when the white
metal fell sharply in line with a slide in gold.
Palladium <XPD=> was $431/439 an ounce versus $430.50/438.50
in late New York. Silver <XAG=> was at $16.65/16.68 an ounce,
also almost flat from $16.66/16.72 in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0725 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 865.90 0.40 +0.05 3.99
Spot Silver 16.68 0.03 +0.18 12.93
Spot Platinum 2040.00 0.50 +0.02 34.21
Spot Palladium 432.00 1.50 +0.35 17.39
TOCOM Gold 2950.00 8.00 +0.27 -3.59 25924
TOCOM Platinum 6699.00 23.00 +0.34 25.47 21072
TOCOM Silver 569.80 -4.80 -0.84 5.32 640
TOCOM Palladium 1491.00 1.00 +0.07 10.36 1074
Euro/Dollar 1.5422
Dollar/Yen 105.05
(Reporting by Risa Maeda, Editing by Michael Watson)
