* Off one-week high of $957.65 as more data awaited
* SPDR holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> mark first rise since July
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Gold was steady above $950 an ounce
on Monday with light buying encouraged by extended gains in oil
and equities markets, although it was off a one-week high near
$960 the previous session.
But there was no strong follow-through buying as investors
mostly sat on the sidelines before U.S. data on housing and
consumer sentiment later this week.
Short-term money inflows into commodities, including gold,
and other risky assets had helped prop up the precious metal on
Friday after a strong U.S. housing sales report and upbeat
comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $953.35 an ounce at 0530 GMT, little
changed from the notional New York close of $952.65.
"Gold is being underpinned by buying from speculators, with
the euro's recovery above $1.43 and a rally in oil to the
year-to-date high levels increasing their risk tolerance," said
Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures & Securities'
research team.
"But such buying is not sustainable. They stop buying when
gold rises towards $960, which looks like an initial resistance,"
he said.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were also
almost flat at $954.80 per ounce, compared to $954.70 on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday,
the contract rose $13, or 1.4 percent.
Non-commercial net long positions in New York gold futures
contracts fell to 177,530 lots in the week ended on Aug. 18, down
6.6 percent from 190,086 lots, a weekly report by the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission showed. []
Bullion rose 0.8 percent last week and hit a one-week high of
$957.65 on Friday. The dollar's recent fall against the euro has
boosted the metal's appeal as a hedge against the falling U.S.
currency.
"Gold maintains its traditional role as an asset to avoid
risks like, for example, a weak dollar, inflation and volatility
in equity markets. Apart from that, gold has also attracted
demand from those seeking short-term capital gains like those in
other commodities," Sugata said.
Partly reflecting such short-term money inflows, the holdings
of the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, rose 0.92 tonnes on Friday, marking the
first rise since July 16.
Its holdings stood at 1,066.41 tonnes on Friday, up from
1,065.49 tonnes the previous day. []
It was the biggest one-day increase since June 1, when the
holdings rose by 15.27 tonnes to a record of 1,134.03 tonnes.
For a graphic on SPDR holdings, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/089/MKT_SPDR0809.gif
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose 0.5 percent to $1,257 per ounce,
with investors taking mostly in stride news on Sunday that South
Africa's miners' union has suspended an indefinite strike set to
start on Monday at the world's No.2 platinum producer, Impala
Platinum. []
Precious metals prices at 0530 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 953.30 0.65 +0.07 8.31
Spot Silver 14.30 0.15 +1.06 26.33
Spot Platinum 1256.00 5.00 +0.40 34.76
Spot Palladium 281.00 2.50 +0.90 52.30
TOCOM Gold 2914.00 74.00 +2.61 13.25 37699
TOCOM Platinum 3828.00 116.00 +3.13 44.34 11037
TOCOM Silver 436.50 19.10 +4.58 36.71 184
TOCOM Palladium 867.00 43.00 +5.22 57.64 362
Euro/Dollar 1.4321
Dollar/Yen 94.79
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
