* Solid buying demand for gold seen near $1,100/oz
* Holdings by SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> fall 0.914 tonnes
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady around
$1,130 per ounce on Monday, with the topside limited by firmness
in the dollar, as the closure of New York markets later in the
day kept many investors on the sidelines.
Gold was underpinned by physical demand on any fall towards
$1,100, helped by buying from gold jewellers in India.
[]
"Gold is being supported by solid demand near $1,100, but any
rise closer to $1,200 is seen as a good chance to lock in
profits, resulting in the boxed-range trade," said Tatsufumi
Okoshi, a senior economist at Nomura Securities Co.
"The biggest day-to-day market factor now is a direction of
the dollar," Okoshi said.
The dollar remained firm against major currencies on Monday,
with the euro <EUR=> being vulnerable to falls by concerns about
fiscal problems buffeting Greece. []
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,131.20 per ounce as of 0304 GMT,
up 0.1 percent from New York's notional close of $1,129.90.
New York energy and commodity markets are closed Monday in
observance of Matin Luther King Jr. Day.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG0> were at
$1,131.50 per ounce, up 0.1 percent. Electronic trading of the
NYMEX/COMEX products on CME Globex are running for trade date
Jan. 19. []
Spot gold hit a five-week high of $1,161.50 on Jan. 11. Gold
has fallen 2.5 percent since then, as a rise in the dollar hurt
investor sentiment.
A higher dollar often trims the precious metal's allure as an
alternative asset.
Gold was also hurt by a broad sell-off in commodities last
week after China took a major step towards tightening monetary
policy by increasing reserve requirements for its banks.
On Thursday, China is expected to report a 20 percent
year-on-year jump in industrial output for December. Also on
Thursday, China is expected to report a return to double-digit
economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2009. []
"There's no doubt about an uptrend in Chinese demand for
commodities. The gold market would react only if the dollar is
affected by upcoming Chinese data," Nomura's Okoshi said.
The holdings by the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, fell 0.914 tonnes to
1,112.836 tonnes on Jan 15. []
Despite recent investment outflows from the gold ETF,
Friday's data showed speculative buyers were returning, albeit
gradually.
Net long noncommercial U.S. gold futures positions rose by
1,575 contracts, or 0.7 percent, to 229,342 contracts in the week
to Jan 12, according to the weekly Commitments of Traders report
published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
[]
It was the first weekly rise in such positions since in the
week ended on Dec 15.
Bucking other precious metals, spot palladium <XPD=> fell 0.2
percent to $451.50 per ounce, snapping a three-day rising streak.
On Friday, it hit an 18-month high of $453 on strong
investment demand related to the U.S. exchange traded funds.
Precious metals prices at 0310 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1131.50 1.60 +0.14 3.27
Spot Silver 18.45 0.09 +0.49 9.63
Spot Platinum 1608.50 12.00 +0.75 9.65
Spot Palladium 451.50 -1.00 -0.22 11.34
TOCOM Gold 3317.00 -25.00 -0.75 1.78 41880
TOCOM Platinum 4674.00 15.00 +0.32 6.69 8825
TOCOM Silver 54.30 -0.50 -0.91 5.03 193
TOCOM Palladium 1308.00 3.00 +0.23 12.27 165
Euro/Dollar 1.4359
Dollar/Yen 90.82
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by David Dolan)
