* Gold nudges above $910 before bank stress test results
* SPDR Gold Trust <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> dips first time in 2
weeks
(Updates prices, adds Tocom's launch of trading platform)
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, May 7 (Reuters) - Gold crept higher on Thursday on
technical buying ahead of the release of results of the U.S.
government's "stress tests" on banks, which will give an
indication of the health of financial institutions.
Bullion rose on Wednesday as news reports about the test
results trickled out, some of which underscored lingering
uncertainties about banks, in turn bolstering bullion's appeal
as a safe-haven asset.
The stress tests, which will help show whether financial
institutions can weather a deep recession, will be released on
Thursday at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).
"There will be a lot of people ... holding their positions
... (although) you might get a little bit more unwinding before
the day's out," said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in
Sydney.
Gold <XAU=> was at $912.25 per ounce at 0737 GMT, up 0.3
percent from New York's notional close of $909.90.
Gold rose despite a fall in the euro versus the dollar.
Generally, a higher dollar is negative for gold, but recently
gold has been propelled by investor risk aversion, which can be
difficult to gauge.
The euro fell against the dollar and touched a 10-week
trough versus the pound as investors braced for a European
Central Bank policy decision later in the day to see how far
the central bank will move on possible "alternative measures"
to get the euro zone economy back on its feet. []
[]
The perception that the global economy may have seen the
worst of the economic downturn has drawn investors to equities
at gold's expense.
Regional share prices have drawn strength from growing
clarity about the health of the U.S. financial system.
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 4.6 percent to a six-month
high, while the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 1.6 percent. [][]
Easing concerns about the financial system were underscored
by another drop in gold holdings by the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund after hitting a record a month
ago.
The SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings fell to 1,104.09
tonnes on May 6, down 0.36 tonnes or 0.03 percent from the
previous day. []
Holdings are now down 2 percent since hitting a record high
of 1,127.68 tonnes on April 9.
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, also said its holdings fell 61.28
tonnes or 0.7 percent from the previous day to 8,348.18 tonnes
as of May 6. []
This is down from a record high of 8,413.01 tonnes on April
3. []
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange launched a new trading
platform on Thursday and added a night session between 0800 GMT
and 1400 GMT. The regular day session ends at 0630 GMT.
[]
TOCOM also introduced a circuit breaker system that
replaces previous daily price limits and enables participants
to trade beyond a trigger price level after a five-minute halt
in trading.
But trade was slow during the regular session as market
participants were reluctant to trade actively before they got
accustomed to the new way of trading, traders said.
Precious metals prices at 0737 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 912.25 2.35 +0.26 9.55
Spot Silver 13.82 0.12 +0.88 -6.43
Spot Platinum 1161.00 27.50 +2.43 -23.62
Spot Palladium 232.50 6.00 +2.65 -36.82
Euro/Dollar 1.3278
Dollar/Yen 98.76
Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda in Tokyo and James Regan
in Sydney)
(Editing by Ben Tan)
