* Gold firms as $700 bln bailout plan remains uncertain
* ETF holdings hit record above 700 tonnes
(Updates prices, adds physicals activity)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Gold advanced on Thursday on
speculative buying driven by uncertainties about when the U.S.
Congress might approve a $700 billion bailout plan to help
resolve turmoil in financial markets.
Record holdings in SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the world's
largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, also supported gold
but dealers said there was a lack of new buying from investors,
who had already snapped up bullion when it hit an 11-month low.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $889.20 an ounce, up $8.20 an
ounce or 0.93 percent from New York's notional close on
Wednesday.
Gold tumbled to $736 on Sept. 11, its weakest in nearly a
year, before climbing steadily to hit a 7-week high of $908.80
on Monday. Increases in SDPR holdings reflected buying within
the two-week period, when gold jumped more than $170, dealers
said.
"We've just got their data now. It's not like they can
release that data to us on the day the gold prices rallied. Not
the case," said Mark Pervan, an ANZ senior commodity analyst in
Melbourne.
"The market at the moment is a bit at a wait-and-see stance
or approach. They are looking at how particularly the U.S.
financial situation unfolds. People are not prepared to buy or
sell strongly," he said.
The SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> said its gold holdings rose
another 2 percent on Sept 23 to a record 724.94 tonnes.
<XAUEXT-NYS-TT>.
The trust has seen its holdings increase by 18 percent or
more than 100 tonnes since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy
protection on Sept 15.
In the physical sector, some speculators were still cashing
in on bullion's recent spike, putting pressure on premiums for
gold bars. <GOLD/ASIA1>.
"Premiums have dropped to $1 from $1.50 earlier this week.
People are more on the selling side because we've seen
Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam buying like crazy recently,"
said a dealer in Singapore.
In the financial markets, Congress looked close to reaching
a deal to approve a $700 billion plan to bail out the U.S.
financial system and President George W. Bush called an
emergency meeting for Thursday to hammer out details.
[]
The euro edged to $1.4718 <EUR=> with the dollar hurt by
uncertainties over the bailout plan. []
"Gold and silver are currently having difficulty in finding
new buying interest to break the respective upside targets of
$920 and $14," said William Kwan, bullion director at Gold
Capital Management in Singapore.
"This is mainly due to lack of commitment of fresh funds
into precious metals," he said.
Gold was last traded around $920 in July. Silver, which
often tracks gold, last hovered around $14 late last month.
Gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $0.6 an
ounce to $895.6 an ounce.
Platinum was trading at $1,189.50 an ounce, down $3.00 or
0.25 percent from New York's notional close.
Precious metals prices at 0558 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 889.20 8.20 +0.93 6.79
Spot Silver 13.35 0.14 +1.06 -9.61
Spot Platinum 1189.50 -3.00 -0.25 -21.74
Spot Palladium 248.50 2.50 +1.02 -32.47
TOCOM Gold 3025.00 -19.00 -0.62 -1.14
26543
TOCOM Platinum 4048.00 -112.00 -2.69 -24.18
17645
TOCOM Silver 458.00 -1.50 -0.33 -15.34
953
TOCOM Palladium 867.00 -16.00 -1.81 -35.83
529
Euro/Dollar 1.4711
Dollar/Yen 105.82
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
