TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed on Friday,
hovering slightly below a six-week high hit earlier this week as
investors awaited cues from regional stock markets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was almost flat at $925.65 per ounce as of
0015 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $925.35.
* Earlier this week it touched a six-week high of $930.40,
buoyed by buying by gold-backed exchange-traded funds.
* U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> fell $2.0 or 0.2
percent to $926.40 per ounce, after rising $2.50 to $928.40 on
Thursday on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings were unchanged at 1,105.62
tonnes on Thursday from the previous day. []
* ETF Securities said the amount of metal it holds to back
its Physical Silver exchange traded commodity rose 2 percent on
May 13. []
* South African gold output fell 7.6 percent in volume terms
compared with the same month in the previous year. []
* The volume of precious metal jewellery exports from Italy
fell more than 10 percent in the first quarter, the director of
Italian goldsmiths' body Federorafi said. []
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as investors returned to
financial and technology shares on bets the recent rally could
have more room to grow after a brief pullback. []
* The dollar rose against the safe-haven yen on Thursday as a
rebound in global stocks supported a modest increase in risk
appetite. Investors shrugged off recent weak U.S. economic data
and favoured buying higher-yielding currencies. []
* HSBC raised its 2009 gold price forecast to $875 from $825
an ounce as inflation concerns spur strong investment demand
for gold exchange-traded funds and bullion coins and bars.
[]
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Friday: <ECON>
- German flash first quarter GDP (0600 GMT)
- French preliminary first quarter GDP (0645 GMT)
- Euro zone flash first quarter GDP (0900 GMT)
- U.S. CPI/core CPI for April (1230 GMT)
- New York Fed Empire State Survey for May (1230 GMT)
- U.S. industrial output, capital use for April (1315 GMT)
- Reuters/Uni Michigan May preliminary consumer sentiment
(1355 GMT)
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PRICES
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $925.65 $0.30 +0.03% +3.19% $860.10 69
Spot silver $14.03 $0.03 +0.21% +17.11% $11.29 68
Spot plat $1115.00 $5.50 +0.50% +0.36% $1148.77 44
COMEX gold $926.40 -$0.10 -0.01% +0.05% $899.04 66
TOCOM gold 2,870 13 +0.46% -0.86% 2,850 51
TOCOM plat 3,477 57 +1.67% -2.14% 3,682 42
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.364 $0.001 +0.07% +0.32%
Dlr/yen 95.96 0.09 +0.09% +0.59%
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
