SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Gold extended losses on
Wednesday, after falling more than 1 percent the previous day,
on technical selling and a drop in platinum prices as worries
about demand resurfaced.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $889.70 an ounce, down
$1.40 from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it posted
its biggest daily percentage drop in almost two weeks.
* Gold had rallied to a near four-week high of $918.25 on
Monday as equity markets fell, due partly to fears a swine flu
outbreak could hurt the economy, and hopes China could buy more
gold to boost reserves.
* But a failure to break above the high and weak oil prices
prompted speculators to lock in profits and triggered technical
selling, analysts said.
* U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee
announces its decision on short-term interest rates later in
the day.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings remained unchanged from
the previous day at 1,104.45 tonnes on April 28. []
* Platinum <XPT=> was up $5.50 at $1,093 an ounce after
falling as low as $1,066.50 on Tuesday, its weakest since March
19, to track declines in equities markets.
* General Motors <GM.N> offered its final reorganisation
plan by slashing bond debt, cutting more than 21,000 more U.S.
jobs and emerging as a nationalised carmaker under the control
of the U.S. government.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as fresh worries that major
banks may need to raise more money offset more reassuring
economic data that suggested the worst may be over and a big
dividend boost from IBM. []
* The dollar dropped against the euro on Tuesday as
improving U.S. data trimmed demand for the greenback as a safe
haven and comments by an ECB official that damped expectations
for quantitative easing also weighed on the dollar against the
euro. []
* Oil prices fell on Tuesday on concerns the swine flu
outbreak could further depress fuel demand, already hard hit by
the global financial crisis. []
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday: <ECON>
-Eurozone consumer sentiment (0900 GMT)
-Eurozone economic sentiment (0900 GMT)
-Eurozone industrial sentiment (0900 GMT)
-Eurozone business climate (0900 GMT)
-Eurozone consumer inflation expectations (0900 GMT)
-U.S. advance Q1 GDP (1230 GMT)
-U.S. FOMC rate decision
-Japan - market holiday
RELATED NEWS >Commodity assets up 12 pct in first
qtr-Barclays[] >Deal reached to cut Chrysler debt
[] >TAKE-A-LOOK Swine flu outbreak
[] >Group 1 sees no rise in April US
auto sales []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0103 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30
RSI Spot gold $889.70 -$1.40 -0.16% -0.81% $860.10
66
Spot silver $12.44 -$0.01 -0.08% +3.84% $11.29
47
Spot plat $1093.00 $5.50 +0.51% -4.04% $1155.52
25
COMEX gold $890.00 -$2.80 -0.31% -1.93% $905.67
47
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.315 -$0.008 -0.62% -0.75%
Dlr/yen 96.91 0.14 +0.14% -0.25%
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ben Tan)
