* Gold likely to remain near peaks while dollar weak
* SPDR Gold holdings unchanged at 1,114.443 tonnes
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Gold was firm on Wednesday and look
poised to scale past record highs marked this week on the back of
a weak dollar.
Bullion remained in sight of a record high of $1,110.85 an
ounce marked on Monday, and analysts said persistent weakness in
the dollar on expectations that U.S. interest rates will likely
stay low would likely help gold rise further.
"The market's probably in a bit of a consolidation mode and
traders are cautious moving forward," said Adrian Koh, an analyst
at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"The gold upward momentum is still strong and there aren't
any sell signals yet," he said.
India's recent purchase of 200 tonnes of gold from the
International Monetary Fund has also provided gold with support
as it has kept the metal out of the market.
The question has now shifted to how and when the IMF will
execute the transaction for the remaining planned gold sales.
[]
A former senior foreign exchange official in China, which was
seen by some as the most likely buyer of IMF's gold, said this
week that the country should not rush to buy the metal from the
IMF but should wait for the price to drop from a record.
[]
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,108.00 per ounce at 0538 GMT on
Wednesday, up 0.2 percent from New York's notional close.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$1,108.60 an ounce, up 0.6 percent, after hitting an all-time
high of $1,111.70 on Monday.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs said gold could rise to
record highs in a range from $1,150 to $1,200 an ounce, driven by
declining real interest rates and renewed buying interest by
central banks. []
The yen rose against the dollar on Wednesday buoyed by
stop-loss buying and also eked out gains against the
high-yielding Australian dollar after a mixed batch of Chinese
economic data. [] []
"The only factor that may weigh on gold would be a rebound in
the dollar, or any profit-taking pressures. But, we aren't really
getting any clear signs of that yet," Koh said.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday that
the dollar's role as a reserve currency is intact, but the United
States cannot take it for granted and needs to tackle its huge
fiscal deficit. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,114.443 tonnes as
of Nov. 10, unchanged from the previous business day and at a
level last seen in July. []
Spot silver <XAG=> was at $17.34 per ounce, compared to the
New York notional close of $17.32.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,357.00 per ounce, up from
$1,349.50, while palladium <XPD=> was at $331.00 versus $331.50.
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0535 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1107.70 2.40 +0.22 25.85
Spot Silver 17.33 0.01 +0.06 53.09
Spot Platinum 1357.00 7.50 +0.56 45.60
Spot Palladium 331.00 -0.50 -0.15 79.40
TOCOM Gold 3197.00 18.00 +0.57 24.25 40847
TOCOM Platinum 3917.00 8.00 +0.20 47.70 6572
TOCOM Silver 500.00 -1.10 -0.22 56.59 328
TOCOM Palladium 961.00 5.00 +0.52 74.73 73
Euro/Dollar 1.4984
Dollar/Yen 89.41
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
