* Gold falls almost 0.5 pct, last at $933.25/oz <XAU=>
* U.S. currency firms on G8 comments
* SPDR gold ETF holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> unchanged
(Changes dateline, byline, adds quotes, updates prices PVS
TKOYO)
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Gold fell towards $930 an ounce
on Monday, pressured by a broadly firmer dollar, while easing
oil prices dampened demand for bullion as a hedge against
potential oil-induced inflation.
Commodities priced in dollars have lost value as the U.S.
currency firmed, as they become more expensive for holders of
other currencies.
The dollar was boosted broadly by comments from Russia's
finance minister supporting the U.S. unit as the world's reserve
currency at the Group of Eight meeting.[]
Spot gold <XAU=> fell to $933.25 per ounce by 1003 GMT,
against $937.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday.
"It looks like the dollar might have a bit more to
strengthen," said Citigroup analyst David Thurtell. "Commodities
will come under pressure...around $918 to $922 (an ounce) is
probably a pretty important region for (gold) to hold."
Investors also took a lead from the cautious tone adopted by
policy makers at the G8 meeting, which some traders said helped
temper recent optimism about the economy, encouraging bets in
riskier assets to be cut further. []
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde also said G8
ministers wanted measures to curb volatility in oil and oil
products markets, where prices have climbed sharply this year.
[]
Despite the downward pressure from a gaining dollar, gold
took some support from risk aversion sentiment post-G8.
"Until we're really starting to print solid growth numbers
there are always going to people who cling on to the fact that
we are still in pretty precarious times and they are just going
to buy the risk averse trade," added Citigroup's Thurtell.
Oil fell to around $71, extending its retreat from a near
eight-month high as the dollar firmed and analysts said the
market had rallied too quickly. []
Gold has historically tracked oil prices, as it is often
bought as a hedge against inflationary pressures sparked by
higher crude.
In wider markets, European shares fell on Monday, tracking
losses in Asia, with mining and energy shares suffering from
lower commodities prices as the dollar strengthened. []
WEAK DEMAND
Demand for physical gold remained weak. Holdings of the SPDR
Gold Trust, the world's largest bullion exchange-traded fund,
were steady at 1,132.15 tonnes as of June 12 -- unchanged for a
fifth session. []
Speculators boosted their holdings of U.S. gold futures with
noncommercial investors net long on 189,674 contracts of gold
futures in the week to June 9, compared to net long positions of
187,340 contracts in the week to June 2. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> tracked gold
lower, falling to $14.40 an ounce against $14.79. Platinum
<XPT=> was at $1,227.50 an ounce compared with $1,249.00, while
palladium <XPD=> was at $245.50 from $250.50.
ETF buying of platinum eased, with ETF Securities reporting
its holdings remained unchanged on June 12. []
The world's third-biggest platinum producer, Lonmin Plc
<LMI.L>, said it had shut down its No.1 furnace on Sunday due to
a production incident and started up three other furnaces with
about half the capacity. []
TheBullionDesk.com analyst James Moore said this would help
support platinum prices against downward pressure from the
firmer dollar.
"While the metal is vulnerable to pressure short-term
substantial weakness is likely to be limited due to the metals
fundamentals, possible supply disruptions in South Africa and
the impact of proposed ETF products in the US," he said in a
note to clients.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa;Editing by Veronica
Brown)
