* SPDR Gold holdings down 0.1 pct
* Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures dip from record
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Gold fell briefly on Monday to touch
a one-week low under $1,150 an ounce as investors grew cautious
about the outlook for the precious metal after last week's dollar
rally.
Prices tumbled over 4 percent on Friday in gold's biggest
one-day percentage loss in a year, after the dollar rallied on
better U.S. jobs data than expected.
Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo's Fujitomi Co Ltd,
said some investors were beginning to wonder if central banks
might begin to tighten up measures they have taken to boost
liquidity, leaving less money flowing to gold.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet last
Thursday laid out a package of decisions on ending and tightening
up the measures the ECB has taken to boost liquidity to the
banking sector. []
"A day earlier, the ECB said it would (unwind its crisis
support) ... I think that made global investors wonder if the
U.S. might be next," said Saito.
"I don't think gold would have fallen quite this much (on
Friday's dollar rally) alone if that statement hadn't been made,"
he said.
The dollar jumped against other major currencies on Friday
after data showed the United States lost far fewer jobs than
expected last month, bolstering hopes the economy is on a stable
path to recovery.
Saito said, however, that the tide against gold was unlikely
to totally turn on just last week's dollar rally and jobs data,
as countries such as Japan and the United States are expected to
keep interest rates low.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,156.35 per ounce at 0624 GMT, down
0.3 percent percent from New York's notional close of $1,159.55
but up from the day's low of $1,146.60.
Bullion rose to an all-time high of $1,226.10 an ounce last
Thursday amid expectations for persistent weakness in the U.S.
currency.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG0> fell about 1
percent to $1,157.80 per ounce.
The dollar slipped against the yen on Monday as traders
pocketed profits, slipping from a one-month peak hit late last
week. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,129.966 tonnes as
of Dec. 4, down 1.524 tonnes or 0.1 percent from the previous
business day. []
Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions fell 1.2
percent to 259,064 lots in the week to Dec. 1, down from a record
262,331 lots, a weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission showed. []
China will overtake India as the world's largest gold
consumer in 2009, with total demand forecast at 432 tonnes as
wealthy investors defy record bullion prices, metals consultancy
GFMS said on Friday. []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0623 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1155.70 -3.85 -0.33 31.31
Spot Silver 18.23 -0.20 -1.09 61.04
Spot Platinum 1433.50 -7.00 -0.49 53.81
Spot Palladium 367.00 -4.00 -1.08 98.92
TOCOM Gold 3354.00 -69.00 -2.02 30.35 108959
TOCOM Platinum 4159.00 -50.00 -1.19 56.83 14112
TOCOM Silver 530.20 -4.80 -0.90 66.05 546
TOCOM Palladium 1071.00 -10.00 -0.93 94.73 110
Euro/Dollar 1.4893
Dollar/Yen 89.93
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Michael Watson)
