By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) - Spot gold hovered around $890 on
Tuesday, holding on to the previous day's gains, as the market
pondered its direction in the absence of fresh incentives.
The precious metal ended higher on Monday as the dollar
softened against the euro and as oil prices bounced back from
earlier lows.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $891.80/893.00 an ounce at 0432 GMT
versus $891.25/892.65 late in New York on Monday, after trading
between $889.25 and 892.30.
Koji Suzuki, a senior manager at SBI Futures Co Ltd,
attributed the slow trade to a U.S. Senate committee hearing on
commodity markets.
The committee is trying to curb speculation in commodities,
an issue which has come into focus again as oil hit a record high
above $135 a barrel in May.
"I don't think speculators are moving much in New York,"
Suzuki said.
The mood has also influenced trading in London, he added.
"It's sort of created a vacuum in the market," Suzuki said.
He said that although a soft dollar would continue to draw
gold buying by investors, the precious metal was unlikely to move
much for the time being.
Bullion prices are currently trading at a level that is down
more than 13 percent from the all-time high of $1,030.80 marked
in mid-March.
Although they are off a low of $845 marked on May 2, they
have failed to settle above $930 for the past two weeks.
Oil fell as worries about weakening oil demand overshadowed
fears about the Atlantic hurricane season, which could threaten
supply.
Front-month U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1> was down 48
cents at $127.28 per barrel on the Globex electronic trading
platform, after settling up 41 cents the previous day.
In the currency market, the dollar was down 0.1 percent on
the day at 104.33 <JPY=>, having retreated from a three-month
high of 105.88 yen hit on trading platform EBS last week.
The euro was steady at $1.5537 <EUR=>. The European single
currency has stayed between the record high of about $1.6020 hit
in April and its recent low near $1.5280 struck in May.
In the U.S. gold futures market, the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) said in its latest report that
non-commercial net long positions rose to 191,512 lots in the
week to May 27, higher than 182,119 lots a week earlier.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to $895.50 an ounce in
electronic trading, compared with the previous day's settlement
of $897.00.
The benchmark April contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange
<0#JAU:> rose 13 yen per gram to 3,017 yen.
Platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,998.50/2,008.50 an ounce from
$2,000/2,020 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> was at $432/437 an ounce versus $431/439.
Silver <XAG=> was mostly flat at $16.80/16.86 an ounce versus
$16.81/16.87 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0435 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 890.70 1.20 +0.13 40.11
Spot Silver 16.80 0.01 +0.06 30.74
Spot Platinum 2013.50 17.50 +0.88 77.87
Spot Palladium 433.00 2.50 +0.58 30.42
TOCOM Gold 3016.00 12.00 +0.40 23.35 18123
TOCOM Platinum 6631.00 93.00 +1.42 55.88 15129
TOCOM Silver 572.30 1.30 +0.23 16.01 600
TOCOM Palladium 1486.00 23.00 +1.57 18.41 265
Euro/Dollar 1.5527
Dollar/Yen 104.38
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa)
