(Changes dateline, byline, adds quotes, updates prices)
* Gold dented as dollar rises broadly, charts bearish
* Market eyes Fed meeting, growth concerns
* SPDR gold ETF holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> flat since June 5
By Veronica Brown and Nick Vinocur
LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Gold fell around 0.8 percent on
Monday towards $920 per ounce with dollar strength against a
basket of major currencies sapping the appeal of bullion and
other commodities priced in the U.S. unit.
Spot gold <XAU=> dropped to $925.35 an ounce at 1041 GMT,
having earlier hit a intraday low of $921.30. That compared with
$933.80 quoted late on Friday in New York. The price was fixed
or set in London earlier on Monday at $924.00.
The dollar gained at the expense of higher-yielders <.DXY>,
normally associated with risk seeking behaviour, reflecting
investor concern about global growth prospects and jitters ahead
of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate setting meeting -- a factor
that was seen supporting gold at the lower levels.
"I think ahead of the FOMC meeting we've seen a bit of
dollar strength, and technically gold is due to take a bit of a
breather," said Simon Weeks, director, precious metals sales at
Scotia Mocatta in London.
"Once gold moved through $930, we took a look downwards to
the next support level," he added.
The Fed is not expected to adjust monetary policy at its
meeting on Tuesday, but investors will keep a keen eye on its
statement for clues on the economic outlook and progress of its
debt buyback programme.
In early June, a weakening dollar and increasing demand for
gold-backed funds helped bullion hit a three-month high of
$989.80 an ounce. But the dollar has since pared its losses,
dulling some of gold's allure as an alternative investment.
Closely watched U.S. consumer and producer price data last
week was sharply lower than economists had forecast, and
dampened gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation.
Easing crude prices <CLc1>also helped diminish appetite for
gold as a hedge against oil-induced inflationary conerns.
INVESTMENT TAILS OFF
In other metals, silver followed gold lower <XAG=>, falling
to $13.87 from $14.19 late on Friday in New York. Platinum was
bid at $1,186 per ounce <XPT=>, while palladium stood at $238
<XPD=>.
Gold's three-week decline, partly due to selling related to
the unwinding of long positions in U.S. gold futures, has
discouraged fresh buying, traders said.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ9> fell 1.13
percent to $925.40 per ounce, down 0.3 percent from Friday's
settlement on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
A weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission showed noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures
positions fell 7.5 percent to 175,543 lots in the week to June
16 from 189,674 lots the week before []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,132.15
tonnes as of June 19, unchanged since June 5. []
ETF Securities also said on Monday the amount of gold it
holds to back its Gold Bullion Securities exchange-traded
commodity fell around 45,000 ounces on June 19. []
Investors are still trying to decide if earlier bets on
riskier assets such as stocks have been overdone in light of
persistent global growth concerns.
"People are disappointed that gold and the euro have failed
to break decisively above resistance (against the dollar) at
$945 for gold and $1.40 for the euro," said Kaname Gokon, deputy
general manager at Okato Shoji Co's research section.
But the metal's appeal as a refuge from uncertainty was
still seen as staying intact.
"Anyone expecting a rapid v-shaped recovery is in for a bit
of a disappointment," Scotia Mocatta's Weeks said.
(Reporting by Veronica Brown; Editing by Pratima Desai)
