* Dollar continues to shape gold's direction
* SPDR Gold holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> steady
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Gold steadied to trade near $955 on
Monday after ending the previous session lower, drawing support
from news that European central banks have extended an agreement
limiting gold sales.
Last week the precious metal retreated from a two-month high
when the dollar rallied on renewed hopes for an improvement in
the economy.
Bullion drew support from news that a group of central banks
in Europe had renewed the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), a
pact to limit gold sales for a five-year period to 400 tonnes a
year from 500 tonnes. []
Gold <XAU=> was at $954.50 per ounce at 0405 GMT, up 0.1
percent from the notional close in New York of $953.80.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at $957.0
per ounce, down 0.3 percent.
Yukino Yamada, a senior strategist at Daiwa Institute of
Research, said gold remained an attractive investment.
"There are signs the economy is recovering and it has become
easier for money to flow into (assets) that directly benefit from
this such as stocks and copper," Yamada said.
She said gold-backed exchange-traded funds had not fallen
drastically, however, indicating continued interest in investing
in gold.
"I think we'll see buying if gold should fall to $900."
The dollar will continue to help provide investors with a
means of judging when to invest in gold, she said.
The dollar gained more than 1 percent against a basket of
currencies on Friday <.DXY> after the July U.S. jobs report gave
the clearest indication yet that the economy is turning around
from a deep recession. It retained most of those gains on Monday.
[]
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,068.90 tonnes
as of Aug 7, down 3.97 tonnes or 0.4 percent from the previous
business day. []
Holdings have mostly been falling since hitting a record of
1,134.03 tonnes on June 1.
Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions rose 12
percent to 193,514 lots in the week to Aug. 4 from 172,771 lots,
a weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
showed. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,249.0 per ounce, down 1.0
percent from the notional close in New York of $1,261.50.
The metal, used in automobile catalysts and jewellery, has
lost support since South Africa's biggest union said on Saturday
it was considering a wage offer from state power firm Eskom after
marathon talks to avert a strike that could cripple Africa's
biggest economy. []
The nation is by far the world's biggest platinum producer
and also a major gold supplier.
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0403 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 954.50 0.70 +0.07 8.45
Spot Silver 14.60 0.01 +0.07 28.98
Spot Platinum 1249.00 -12.50 -0.99 34.01
Spot Palladium 271.50 -1.50 -0.55 47.15
TOCOM Gold 2994.00 38.00 +1.29 16.36 39209
TOCOM Platinum 3914.00 64.00 +1.66 47.59 12550
TOCOM Silver 458.50 7.90 +1.75 43.60 157
TOCOM Palladium 854.00 33.00 +4.02 55.27 233
Euro/Dollar 1.4203
Dollar/Yen 97.25
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)
