* Physical buying below $910 limits declines
* SPDR Gold holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> unchanged since July 8
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched below $920 an
ounce on Tuesday, taking a breather after solid gains in U.S.
equities on optimism about upcoming corporate earnings helped
bullion rally above that level a day earlier.
Physical buying limited declines, but a lack of demand for
hedging against inflation or other investments curbed further
buying, traders said.
Concerns about economic recovery prospects have been weighing
on oil prices and supporting the dollar, instead of gold, as a
safe-haven asset.
"We see physical buying below $910, but when it reaches
around $920, the buying is all gone," said Ronald Leung, director
of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"The investment side is still on the sidelines," he said,
adding that the gold market is likely to be caught in a range of
between $905 and $925 for some time.
Spot gold <XAU=> had fallen to $918.45 an ounce by 0249 GMT.
That was down 0.2 percent from New York's notional close of
$920.00 on Monday, when it rose as high as $923.10, the highest
since July 8.
It hit a two-month low of $905.80 last week.
The yellow metal was pressured by worries over the global
economy and broad-based weakness in commodities that was fuelled
partly by U.S. regulatory pressure to limit speculation in energy
and metals markets.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ9> fell 0.4 percent
to $918.50 an ounce after rising $10, or 1.1 percent, on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.
The currency market failed to give gold clear directional
clues. On Monday, the euro gained ground versus the dollar as
positive comments from a bank analyst helped boost hopes that
earnings of U.S. financial companies may not be as weak as
initially feared, and lifted global equities.
The dollar was almost flat versus the yen <JPY=> from late
U.S. trade, while the euro inched down to around $1.3970 <EUR=>.
[]
Investors are looking towards upcoming data and U.S.
second-quarter corporate earnings results to gauge the outlook
for the world's biggest economy in the second half of the year.
Poor results could make investors risk-averse and trigger a
sell-off in equities, but traders said it was not clear if such
money would flow into gold.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,109.81 tonnes
as of July 13, unchanged since July 8. []
Silver was unchanged at $12.82 per ounce from the notional
New York close. It hit a fresh 10-week low of $12.44 on Monday as
economic worries helped investors to focus on the white metal's
industrial uses.
Precious metals prices at 0256 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 918.25 -1.75 -0.19 4.33
Spot Silver 12.81 -0.01 -0.08 13.16
Spot Platinum 1111.00 1.00 +0.09 19.21
Spot Palladium 233.00 0.00 +0.00 26.29
TOCOM Gold 2752.00 46.00 +1.70 6.96 26550
TOCOM Platinum 3338.00 84.00 +2.58 25.87 8174
TOCOM Silver 383.50 12.70 +3.43 20.11 263
TOCOM Palladium 707.00 10.00 +1.43 28.55 126
Euro/Dollar 1.3962
Dollar/Yen 92.91
(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
