* Equities rise, dollar off highs as Egypt's Mubarak resigns
* Gold slips back from earlier 3-week high near $1,370/oz
* Largest silver ETF sees first inflow since Jan. 24
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Gold retreated towards $1,360 an
ounce on Friday from earlier three-week highs as news that
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had resigned after weeks of
protest took some heat out of risk aversion.
Mubarak handed over power to the army, ending three decades
of autocratic rule, after escalating pressure from the military
and protesters. Stock markets rose on the news, erasing earlier
losses, while the dollar retreated from highs. []
"The geopolitical risk and the incentive to buy gold on the
back of that are probably reduced," said Hayden Atkins, an
analyst at Macquarie. "Tension will still be simmering, but it
won't be as big a news story for people to trade off."
Spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,362.10 an ounce at 1645 GMT
against $1,362.90 late in New York on Thursday, having earlier
risen as high as $1,368.16 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for April
delivery <GCJ1> were down 20 cents to $1,362.30.
Atkins said the protests' impact on gold had been largely
peripheral as the metal remained trapped between slackening
appetite for bullion as interest in other assets like stocks
improved, and ongoing uncertainty over the economic outlook.
"It has provided gold with a little bit of direction day to
day, but we still haven't moved very far since the pull-back at
the start of the year," he said.
"The Middle East situation has made a difference at the
margins, but people still aren't convinced over pushing (gold)
one way or the other."
Gold fell 6 percent in January after a run of well-received
U.S. data shifted investors' focus onto assets seen as higher
risk like stocks, but its slide has been arrested this month.
"There was a significant questioning with respect to gold
whether there was really much further appreciation to be had,"
Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said. "There were
potentially a number of big gold investors questioning whether
they should trim their positions.
"The reason why these positions are in place is because
there are some imbalances in the global economy.
"The reality is many of these investors realise it is going
to take some time (to correct these), and maybe gold remains a
good place to put part of your portfolio."
ETF DEMAND STAYS SOFT
Investment demand for gold remained soft, with holdings of
the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York's
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, easing by nearly a tonne on Thursday.
They are down just over 55 tonnes so far this year. []
In the same period of 2010, they fell around 27 tonnes.
"Consistent offloading by ETFs, who were pivotal in taking
the metal beyond $1,400, and lacklustre physical demand are the
key bearish forces curbing sustained gains," said Pradeep Unni,
senior analyst at Richcomm Global Services.
Premiums for gold bars were steady in Hong Kong and
Singapore, with no signs of buying interest from China after the
Lunar New Year celebration. There was hardly any physical buying
in Asia related to unrest in Egypt, dealers said. <GOLD/ASIA1>
Australia's Newcrest Mining <NCM.AX>, the world's third
largest gold miner after its takeover of Lihir Gold last year,
said higher metal output had helped almost double underlying
first-half profit. []
Silver <XAG=> was bid at $30.05 an ounce against $30.19.
Holdings in the world's largest silver ETF, the iShares
Silver Trust <SLV>, rose around 18 tonnes to 10,388.45 tonnes on
Thursday, their first increase since Jan. 24. []
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,829 an ounce against $1,824.75,
while palladium <XPD=> was at $816.97 against $820.25.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
