* Physical buying seen to pick up after holidays
* Spot gold bearish target at $1,370 - technicals
[]
* Coming up: U.S. ICSC chain stores weekly; 1245 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Tuesday, supported by the physical demand outlook, but a
stronger dollar following the release of positive U.S.
manufacturing data weighed on the market.
The dollar index edged higher, with the yen on the
backfoot after upbeat data suggested the world's largest
economy will accelerate in 2011 following recent run of
encouraging data. []
"If it (the dollar) has any negative impact on gold, it's
only short-term. The market is still on the positive side,"
said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Hareaus in Hong
Kong.
"There are still worries about the economy in the euro
zone. For the long term, people would want to put money in
commodities, metals."
Another key concern hanging over the market is the
prospect of further near-term interest rate hikes in nations
such as China and India, and even the United States later this
year, that could dampen enthusiasm for gold by investors, Poon
added.
Spot gold was flat at $1,413.85 an ounce by 0710
GMT. U.S. gold futures lost more than half a percent to
$1,415.5 an ounce.
Physical buying are expected to return in coming days,
after the holiday break, which is seen supportive of gold
prices, traders said.
"The market is very quiet. I'm slightly concerned about
bond yields. If bond yields go up, it's probably not good for
gold," said a Singapore-based trader.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were
down 5/32 in price to yield 3.35 percent, up about 2 basis
points from late U.S. trade on Monday, as the market stayed on
the back foot ahead of a string of data releases this week
that could reinforce a pickup in optimism towards the economy.
Eyes are on U.S. non-farm payrolls data due Friday,
expected to show an improvement labour market. []
Technical analysis showed that a bearish target at $1,370
per ounce is unchanged for spot gold as a five-wave
cycle that started around $1,314, completed at the previous
session high of $1,423.57, according to Reuters market analyst
Wang Tao. []
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20110401094311.jpg
On the base metals market, three-month copper on the
London Metal Exchange reached a new high at $9,725 a tonne. It
broke records in five of the past seven sessions, boosted by
better economic outlook and expectations on tighter supply in
2011.
Spot silver inched up 0.1 percent to $30.70 an
ounce, down from a nearly 31-year high of $31.22 hit in the
previous session.
Precious metals prices 0710 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1413.85 -0.15 -0.01 -0.39
Spot Silver 30.70 0.04 +0.13 -0.52
Spot Platinum 1764.00 -2.00 -0.11 -0.20
Spot Palladium 788.63 -1.34 -0.17 -1.36
TOCOM Gold 3753.00 38.00 +1.02 0.64 34100
TOCOM Platinum 4736.00 48.00 +1.02 0.85 15274
TOCOM Silver 81.70 0.70 +0.86 0.86 1310
TOCOM Palladium 2102.00 5.00 +0.24 0.24 610
Euro/Dollar 1.3341
Dollar/Yen 82.07
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
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