TOKYO, May 19 (Reuters) - Gold inched up on Tuesday, taking a
breather after a 1.4 percent drop on Monday when Wall Street
rallied and dented the precious metal's appeal as a safe haven
from volatility in other markets amid a global recession.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> rose 0.2 percent to $918.80 per ounce at
2359 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $917.20.
Gold is still within reach of a high of $933.65 hit on Friday,
its highest in seven weeks, after data showed U.S. core inflation
in April rose more than expected.
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> fell 0.2 percent
to $919.50 per ounce, compared with Monday's settlement of
$921.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,105.62 tonnes
as of May 18, unchanged from the previous business day.
[]
* Holdings of Zurich Cantonal Bank's silver-backed ETF
<ZSIL.S> rose more than 175,500 ounces or 0.4 percent in the week
to May 15. []
* ETF Securities said the amount of metal it holds to back
its Physical Platinum exchange-traded commodity <PHPT.L> fell
13.6 percent in the week to May 15. []
* Anglo Platinum <AMSJ.J> Chief Executive Neville Nicolau
said he expects the company to at least break even this year, and
stuck to the company's annual production target of 2.4 million
ounces. []
MARKET NEWS
* The yen extended falls versus the dollar after being punted
lower on Monday by a rally in stocks reviving risk appetite and
after comments from a Japanese official spurred speculation
authorities in Japan may intervene to slow its currency's rise.
[]
* Tokyo's Nikkei share average opened up 1.5 percent. []
* U.S. stocks rallied on Monday as better-than-expected
results from the No.2 U.S. home improvement retailer, Lowe's Cos
Inc <LOW.N>, helped spark broad-based buying on hopes the
recession is easing and consumer spending is stabilising. []
* Oil prices rose nearly 4.8 percent to a six-month high on
Monday as violence in Africa's top crude exporter Nigeria and a
fire at a key U.S. East Coast refinery revived concern about
supplies. []
* Platinum could climb to $1,350 an ounce in the next six
months if investment demand firms and Chinese jewellery buying
stays strong, but weak auto usage will still weigh on prices,
refiner Johnson Matthey <JMAT.L> said. []
* A Reuters poll of metals analysts forecast a median
platinum price of $1,200 an ounce in 2010, slightly up from an
estimated $1,100 this year. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data and events are due on Tuesday: <ECON>
- UK CPI/RPI for April (0830 GMT)
- German ZEW Economic Survey for May (0900 GMT)
- U.S. housing starts/building permits for April (1230 GMT)
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PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0019 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $918.20 $1.00 +0.11% +2.36% $860.10 56
Spot silver $13.77 $0.05 +0.36% +14.94% $11.29 58
Spot plat $1128.00 -$0.50 -0.04% +2.50% $1138.73 52
COMEX gold $918.70 $0.50 +0.05% -1.35% $901.55 55
TOCOM gold 2,859 -1 -0.03% -0.21% 2,850 45
TOCOM plat 3,529 119 +3.49% +3.19% 3,644 44
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.355 -$0.001 -0.09% +0.49%
Dlr/yen 96.42 0.18 +0.19% +1.54%
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
