* Gold trades above $920, off Tuesday's six-week low
* Federal Reserve eyed for influence on dollar trade
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $920 on
Wednesday, off the previous session's six-week low as traders
awaited the outcome of a key Federal Reserve meeting on interest
rates.
The precious metal bounced back from the six-week low of
$912.90 as the dollar, the main driver of the current market, was
hit by concerns that the Fed would reduce expectations of higher
interest rates when it concludes its meeting on Wednesday.
Bullion, which has been sliding since failing to top $1,000
this month, is expected to trade within a narrow range on
Wednesday ahead of the conclusion of the Fed's meeting.
Traders said speculators clearing long positions and receding
worries about inflation have pressured gold since it touched a
three-month high of $989.80 in early June.
"The gold market's waiting for material to trade on," said
Koji Suzuki, a senior analyst at SBI Futures Co Ltd.
Gold <XAU=> was at $924.70 an ounce at 0516 GMT, down a tad
from the notional close in New York of $925.15.
"The fundamentals are unchanged, which is that gold's fate is
linked with that of the U.S. dollar," Suzuki said.
Higher rates boost the dollar, thus pressuring gold, which is
often viewed as an alternative investment to the U.S. currency.
Dollar-denominated gold prices also tend to rise when the
U.S. currency falls, because gold gains value in overseas
markets.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ9> inched up 0.1
percent to $925.30 an ounce from Tuesday's settlement.
Investor interest in gold-backed exchange-traded funds, which
are designed to closely reflect the price of an underlying market
such as gold, has lessened recently.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings were 1,131.24 tonnes on
June 23, unchanged from the previous business day. []
That marks a 0.2 percent decline from the record high of
1,134.03 tonnes reported on June 1.
The dollar hovered at its lowest levels for a week against
the euro on Wednesday after tumbling sharply across the board as
the market readied for the Fed to dampen expectations of higher
interest rates. []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0528 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 924.85 -0.30 -0.03 5.08
Spot Silver 13.86 0.04 +0.29 22.44
Spot Platinum 1158.50 0.50 +0.04 24.30
Spot Palladium 233.50 0.00 +0.00 26.56
TOCOM Gold 2852.00 43.00 +1.53 10.84 30336
TOCOM Platinum 3586.00 24.00 +0.67 35.22 9765
TOCOM Silver 426.10 10.40 +2.50 33.45 412
TOCOM Palladium 728.00 7.00 +0.97 32.36 454
Euro/Dollar 1.4091
Dollar/Yen 95.62
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Joseph
Radford)
