PRECIOUS-Gold steadies above $990/oz, eyes on dollar

                                
 TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Gold inched up on Thursday after
failing to maintain the $1,000 per ounce level the previous day,
with investors focused on the dollar as further weakness in the
greenback is likely to benefit the precious metal.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $993.60 per ounce as of 0003
GMT, up 0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $991.15.
                                
 * Gold topped $1,000 for a second straight session on
Wednesday before retreating to a low of $986.95. [GOL/] It had
risen as high as $1,007.45 on Tuesday, its highest since March
2008.
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> fell 0.2
percent to $995.50 per ounce. The contract fell $2.70 to $997.10
on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on
Wednesday.
                                
 * On Tuesday, December gold futures rose as high as
$1,009.70, their highest since February.
                                
 * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,077.63 tonnes
as of Sept. 9, unchanged since Friday. [GOL/SPDR]
                                
 MARKET NEWS
                                
 * The dollar fell on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in
early one year against a basket of major currencies, as growing
evidence of a global recovery spurred investors to move into
riskier current trades. [USD/]
                                
 * U.S. stocks closed higher for a fourth straight day on
Wednesday, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its best
finish so far this year as industrial and technology companies
gained from a weak dollar. [.N]
                                
 * Japan's Nikkei share average <.N225> was up 0.7 percent in
early trade. [.T]
                                
 DATA EVENTS
                                
 * The following data is expected on Thursday: <ECON>
                                
 - Australia employment data for August (0130 GMT)
                                
 - China consumer price index for Aug (0200 GMT)
                                
 - China producer price index for Aug (0200 GMT)
                                
 - France industrial production for July (0645 GMT)
                                
 - ECB monthly bulletin (0800 GMT)
                                
 - Bank of England policy decision (1100 GMT)
                                
 - U.S. international trade for July (1230 GMT)
                                
 - Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1230 GMT)
                                
 RELATED NEWS
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 PRICES
                                
 Precious metals prices at 0001 GMT
 Metal         Last      Change  Pct chg  Day ago pct  MA 30  RSI
 Spot gold     $993.20    $2.05  +0.21%   +10.72%    $860.10   77
 Spot silver    $16.34    $0.07  +0.43%   +36.39%     $11.29   82
 Spot plat    $1273.00   -$3.00  -0.24%   +34.14%    $948.98   71
 COMEX gold    $993.90  $105.70 +11.90%   +10.49%    $857.64   71
 TOCOM gold      2,955      372 +14.40%   +13.26%      2,476   59
 TOCOM plat      3,794     1054 +38.47%   +37.22%      2,659   56
 Currencies
 Euro/dlr       $1.455   $0.141 +10.76%   +10.41%
 Dlr/yen         92.13     1.75  +1.94%    +3.61%
 (Reporting by Risa Maeda)