TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $1,100 per ounce on Thursday after falling more than 2 percent the previous day, when investors became risk averse as the dollar rose and China's tightening bank lending capped economic optimism.
Market participants were eagerly awaiting a set of Chinese economic indicators on Thursday, including CPI and gross domestic product data. [
] [ ]FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,115.95 an ounce as of 0000 GMT, up 0.4 percent from New York's notional close of $1,111.10.
* It fell as low as $1,107 on Wednesday, its lowest since Jan. 4.
* U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG0> were at $1,116.10 an ounce, up 0.3 percent. On Wednesday, the contract settled down $27.40, or 2.4 percent, at $1,122.60 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,627 per ounce, compared with New York's $1,622.50. It rose as high as $1,654 on Wednesday, a level last seen in August 2008.
* Spot palladium <XPD=> was at $465.50 per ounce, up 0.1 percent from $465 in New York.
* Platinum and palladium, both valued for their use in catalytic converters, have been trading at multi-month highs helped by investment demand after the launch of U.S.-based exchange-traded funds backed by the metals this month.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,111.922 tonnes as of Jan. 20, unchanged from the previous business day. [
]MARKET NEWS
* The euro <EUR=> fell to a five-month low against the dollar on Wednesday amid worries about Greece's ability to finance its deficit, while fears that China is trying to slow bank lending dulled demand for commodity currencies. [
]* India's gold demand abated on Wednesday as the rupee weakened against the greenback, making the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive, dealers said. [
]* The Dow suffered its worst drop of 2010 on Wednesday as U.S. stocks succumbed to fears that China's curbs on bank lending might jeopardise the global economic recovery, while IBM's outlook sparked caution about the technology sector. [
]* Russia has started investing some of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, the world's third largest, into the Canadian dollar as part of its diversification strategy, a top central bank official said. [
]DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Thursday: <ECON>
- Australia Dec sales of new motor vehicles (0030 GMT)
- China GDP for Q4 (0200 GMT)
- China consumer price index for Dec (0200 GMT)
- China producer price index for Dec (0200 GMT)
- China industrial output (0200 GMT)
- China retail sales for Dec (0200 GMT)
- China urban investment for Dec (0200 GMT)
- Euro zone flash PMI for Jan (0858 GMT)
- Swiss ZEW investor sentiment for Jan (1000 GMT)
- Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1330 GMT)
- U.S. leading indicators for Dec (1500 GMT)
- Philadelphia Fed business activity index for Jan (1500 GMT)
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Precious metals prices at 0005 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg 2 day chg MA 30 RSI Spot gold $1115.05 $3.95 +0.36% -3.70% $1117.83 41 Spot silver $17.93 $0.06 +0.34% -1.38% $17.70 44 Spot plat $1627.50 $5.00 +0.31% -0.97% $1505.28 71 COMEX gold $1115.30 $3.60 +0.32% -2.17% $1123.77 40 TOCOM gold 3,282 -49 -1.47% -1.14% 3,297 40 TOCOM plat 4,752 -53 -1.10% +0.23% 4,439 68 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.411 $0.001 +0.06% -1.31% Dlr/yen 91.19 -0.03 -0.03% +0.10% TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Joseph Radford)