PRECIOUS-Gold softens, Ireland worries aid dollar

                                
 * Liquidity set to thin out on upcoming U.S. holiday	
                                
 * Gold may rebound to $1,380 - technicals[ID:nSGE6AM01A]	
                                
 * Coming up: U.S. FOMC Nov 2-3 meeting minutes; 1900 GMT	
                                
 	
 (Updates prices; recasts)	
                                
 By Rujun Shen	
                                
 SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell half a 
percent on Tuesday as the dollar held strong on renewed 
worries over Ireland's political stability, while liquidity is 
set to thin as the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches.	
                                
 The uncertainty in Ireland's politics unnerved investors, 	
pressuring the euro and helping the dollar to stand firm. 
                                
 Ireland begins two nervous weeks of political maneuvering 
on 	
Tuesday as the government dares the opposition to block an 	
austerity budget on which a multi-billion euro EU/IMF bailout 
is 	
riding. [ID:nLDE6AL2AG]	
                                
 "Gold is likely to be rangebound in the near future, with 	
$1,340 being a good support level. The outlook is still firm, 
as 	
the European debt situation is not very optimistic," said a 	
Singapore-based dealer.	
                                
 Physical selling at round $1,365 was spotted in early Asian 	
trade, but overall trade was scarce, especially as Japan was 
closed for a public holiday, the dealer added.    	
                                
 Spot gold fell half a percent to $1,359.27 an ounce 
by 0557 GMT. U.S. gold futures gained 0.1 percent to 	
$1,359.3.    	
                                
 Spot gold is expected to rally towards $1,380 per ounce as 
it completed a consolidation between $1,342 and $1,363, and is 	
poised to rise further, according to Reuters market analyst 
Wang Tao.[ID:nSGE6AM01A]	
                                
 For a graphic of the 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:	
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102311091728.jpg	
                                
 Gold is well supported by the uncertainties in Ireland's 	
fiscal stability, traders and analysts said.	
                                
 "The precious metals have good support, as the situation in 	
Europe is still unstable despite the rescue package," said a 	
trader based in Hong Kong.	
                                
 "It has attracted funds in safe-haven buying."    	
                                
 "Liquidity is going to dry out later this week due to the 	
Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. But the thin liquidity might 	
exaggerate price moves."	
                                
 To add to the geopolitical uncertainty, North Korea and 
South Korea exchanged fire on Tuesday. [ID:nTOE6AM033]    	
                                
 Just before the United States approaches the Thanksgiving 	
holiday later in the week, investors are watching for a batch 
of 	
data from the U.S. on Tuesday, including preliminary economic 	
growth data for the third quarter.    	
                                
 Also on the radar are the minutes from the Federal 
Reserve's 	
meeting on Nov 2-3, where the Fed decided to launch its $600 	
billion bond purchase programme.    	
                                
 "Gold should be able to gradually rise again, after the 	
correction down to the $1,330-level. But a strong rally will be 	
unlikely in the rest of the year, unless Ireland's problem 
spills over to seriously impact the entire euro zone," said Hou 	
Xinqiang, an analyst at Jinrui Futures.	
                                
 Speculation on China's tightening moves has come to a pause 	
for now, after Beijing raised banks' reserve requirement last 	
Friday -- a move tamer than an interest rate hike that many 	
market players had expected, Hou added.	
                                
 Spot silver lost more than one percent to $27.50 an 	
ounce.    Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust , the 
world's 	
largest physically-backed exchange-traded fund, hit a record 
high of 10,841.98 tonnes by Nov 22. [ID:nSGE6AL0SG]	
                                
 	
 Precious metals prices at 0557 GMT	
 Metal            Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg  Turnover	
 Spot Gold       1359.27   -6.82   -0.50     24.05              	
 Spot Silver       27.50   -0.32   -1.15     63.40              	
 Spot Platinum   1651.99   -8.01   -0.48     12.61              	
 Spot Palladium   682.22   -8.75   -1.27     68.24              	
 	
 (Editing by Himani Sarkar)  	
 
 
 
                                
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