* Gold in choppy range in pre-holiday thin trade
* Gold biased to fall -technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. Reuters/UMich Sentiment; 1355 GMT
(Adds details, comment; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Dec 10(Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday in
choppy trade, as a dollar rally took a breather, and
uncertainty over Europe's fiscal health continued to attract
investors to bullion.
Ireland's debt woes continued to grab attention from
investors, as Fitch downgraded the country's rating, and the
opposition party said it would vote against a bailout package.
[][]
The dollar paused from a rally earlier in the week as
strong demand at a 30-year Treasury bond auction knocked
yields lower, while the euro won a reprieve early in Asia.
Traders said the market was set to trade in choppy range
as interest ebbs at year-end.
"Gold seems to be finding a base after the last two-day
big sell-off," said a Singapore-based trader, "Physical demand
should be the key to support at these levels; with downside
critical support at $1,371."
Gold was expected to trade in the range of $1,370 to
$1,400, he added.
Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,389.86 an
ounce by 0325 GMT, heading for a 1.7 percent weekly decline.
U.S. gold futures inched down 0.2 percent to
$1,390.7.
Many traders are winding down positions ahead of the
year-end.
"It's more of a positioning story," said a second
Singapore-based trader, "We saw some sell-off as people tried
to pre-position before next year. In the medium term, everyone
agrees there is still a long way to go for gold, as dollar
weakness will still be a dominant trend going into next year."
Investors are also eyeing a Federal Reserve meeting next
Tuesday, after much debate on whether the central bank's
further quantitative easing would help the world's largest
economy.
"People are looking at the FOMC meeting to see if the QE2
(second round of quantitative easing) would be increased. In
that case, it would support gold prices," said Ronald Leung, a
physical dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, had been trending down in
the past week. It declined 1.518 tonnes to 1,293.778 tonnes by
Dec 9 from the previous day.
In comparison, holdings in the iShares Silver Trust ,
the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, stayed
at its record level of 10,941.34 tonnes.
Spot silver rose by 0.7 percent to $28.89 an ounce,
leading the precious metals complex and headed for a 1.5
percent weekly decline.
The head of Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp , the world's
biggest silver miner, said gold and silver would benefit from
continuing economic uncertainty. []
Precious metals prices at 0325 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pctchg Turnover
Spot Gold 1389.86 2.47 +0.18 26.85
Spot Silver 28.89 0.19 +0.66 71.66
Spot Platinum 1679.49 3.50 +0.21 14.48
Spot Palladium 739.72 3.75 +0.51 82.42
TOCOM Gold 3750.00 0.00 +0.00 15.07 27416
TOCOM Platinum 4577.00 -19.00 -0.41 4.47 6171
TOCOM Silver 78.10 0.60 +0.77 51.06 1050
TOCOM Palladium 2010.00 19.00 +0.95 72.53 343
Euro/Dollar 1.3244
Dollar/Yen 83.69
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting By Rujun Shen; Editing by Ed Lane)
Reuters Terminal users can
see related news and prices by
double clicking on the
codes in brackets:
- All precious metals headlines
- Precious metals market reports
- Daily fixing
headlines
- Technical analysis
-
Indian gold reports
- European gold prices
<0#PREC>
- London interbank gold
forward rates <0#GOFO=>
- London silver forwards
- Gold lease rates <0#LGLR=>
-
London Bullion Market Association
- New York
Comex gold <0#GC:> and silver <0#SI:>
- New York
platinum <0#PL:> and palladium <0#PA:>
- Asian
gold prices <0#PREC>
- Australian
precious metals prices <0#AUPREC=>
- Shanghai Gold Exchange prices
-
Hong Kong gold exchange prices
- Hong
Kong bullion prices
- Indian bullion
prices <0#PREC-IN>
- Japanese producer prices
For Related News and other topics,
double click on one of
these
codes: SPEED GUIDES
))
