* Gold rises in slow trade as most regional players away
* SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> holdings unchanged at record
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Gold rose to close to $890 per
ounce on Monday on bargain-hunting, after falling 1 percent
last week, but trade was sporadic as many key markets were
closed for the Easter holiday.
U.S. financial markets will reopen on Monday after the Good
Friday holiday on April 10. But markets in Australia, Hong
Kong, Britain and most countries on the continent remain closed
on April 13.
"The momentum is being kept, and those who have gone short
in Tokyo are being squeezed," said Kaname Gokon, deputy general
manager at Okato Shoji Co's research section.
Behind the resilience in gold prices late last week despite
a global stock market rally was a fresh inflow of money
underpinning the precious metal, Gokon said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $888.10 per ounce by 0456 GMT, up
0.85 percent from Friday's notional close of $880.65 and 2.75
percent above a recent low of $864.30 on April 6, the lowest
since Jan. 23.
It fell 1.3 percent last week as some investors unwound
safe-haven positions and moved to other assets, including
stocks.
"But other centres are quiet. The market gets rolling once
people outside Tokyo get up and ready," Gokon said, adding that
the market is supported by expectations that physical demand
will emerge at $850-$860.
Monday's firmness partly reflected caution over U.S.
corporate earnings, which get into full swing later this week,
traders said.
Also, data on U.S. retail sales on Tuesday mark the start
of a flow of U.S. data for investors to gauge if Wall Street
shows signs that it has put last month's decade lows behind it.
The euro stayed under pressure on the view that the
European Central Bank may be edging closer to unconventional
easing at its next policy-setting meeting in May.
The euro was quoted at $1.3165 <EUR=>, not far from a low
on Friday of $1.3090, a level not seen since mid-March.
The currency market has been watching for signs the ECB
will take unconventional steps to improve credit after similar
moves by the Federal Reserve and other major central banks to
keep longer-term interest rates down and help keep their
economies and financial systems from deteriorating.
Such inflationary measures, along with massive fiscal
stimulus packages recently announced by various countries, are
bullish for gold and other commodity prices.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings as of April 10 remained
unchanged at a record 1,127.68 tonnes, a level reached the
previous day. []
Precious metals prices at 0445 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 887.10 6.45 +0.73 6.53
Spot Silver 12.49 0.17 +1.38 -15.44
Spot Platinum 1238.50 34.00 +2.82 -18.52
Spot Palladium 235.00 1.50 +0.64 -36.14
TOCOM Gold 2879.00 10.00 +0.35 -5.92
13289
TOCOM Platinum 4022.00 94.00 +2.39 -24.67
23286
TOCOM Silver 402.60 2.40 +0.60 -25.58
280
TOCOM Palladium 779.00 10.00 +1.30 -42.34
597
Euro/Dollar 1.3169
Dollar/Yen 100.43
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
