* Gold falls half a percent, last at $932.65/oz <XAU=>
* U.S. currency firms on G8 comments, weak euro data
* Risk averse sentiment seem supporting gold at lower levels
(Releads, adds quotes, updates prices)
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Gold slipped towards $930 an
ounce on Monday, pressured by a broadly firmer dollar, while
easing crude prices dampened bullion's appeal 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 gained after Russia's finance minister expressed
confidence in the U.S. currency, while concerns about the
weakness of the euro zone economy weighed on the euro. []
Spot gold <XAU=> fell to $932.65 per ounce by 1434 GMT,
against $937.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday. It earlier
trimmed losses briefly to trade almost flat, as oil briefly
arrested its early falls.
Silver <XAG=> tracked gold lower, falling to $14.28 an ounce
against $14.79, having earlier hit $14.23 -- its lowest for more
than three weeks.
"Gold is very closely following the developments in the
foreign exchange markets, especially dollar/euro," said Peter
Fertig, consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research.
"The market has found a bit of resistance which is turning
into support at around $930," he added. "The more important
support is coming in at $921...that would be the next major
support level."
Investors also took a lead from the cautious tone adopted by
policymakers 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 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 stronger dollar, gold
took some support from risk averse 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," said Citigroup analyst David
Thurtell.
Oil fell below $71 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 and U.S. stocks
opened lower, extending losses as the resurgent dollar drove a
pullback in commodities, which hit mining and energy stocks.
[]
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, platinum <XPT=> was at
$1,220.00 an ounce compared with $1,249.00, while palladium
<XPD=> fell more than 3 percent to $242.50 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. []
James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, 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.
