* Gold slips on profit taking but dollar, firm oil supports
* Investors eye crude prices ahead of Saudi meeting
* Dollar under pressure on fears over U.S. economy
(Recasts with prices, comment, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed in
Europe on Friday as renewed weakness in the dollar and rising
oil prices balanced out profit taking after Thursday's gains.
Traders were watching the crude market ahead of a weekend
meeting of oil producers and consumers in Saudi Arabia, with any
fresh strength in oil prices likely to pull gold higher.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $900.45/901.45 an ounce at 0923
GMT from $902.95/904.35 an ounce late in New York on Thursday,
when it jumped as high as $907.90 an ounce, its strongest level
in more than a week.
The metal eased earlier on Friday as investors took profits
after Thursday's price rally failed to take gold through its
previous high of $908.70, hit on June 9.
"From a technical point of view, we have failed to go above
the high we saw last week," said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach,
head of sales at precious metals trading group Heraeus.
"That would have been a bullish signal to the market that
would have attracted some speculators, as there is not a lot of
resistance from there to $935 an ounce," he added.
Traders were keeping an eye on currency markets for signs as
to the future direction of trade, he said.
The dollar weakened a touch on Friday, keeping gold firmly
supported above $900 an ounce, after a raft of poor data raised
concerns over the health of the U.S. economy. []
"(Gold) prices are holding firm partly in response to
speculation that the U.S. Fed could delay increasing interest
rates," said Fairfax analyst Marc Elliott.
The precious metal tends to move in the opposite direction
to the U.S. currency, as it is often bought as a hedge against
dollar weakness.
However, with little economic data due out Friday to
influence the currency markets, gold could continue trading
within a relatively narrow range.
Risk aversion and uncertainty over the direction of the
foreign exchange markets are expected to "lead precious metal
investors to stay on the sidelines today whilst waiting for
further global macroeconomic signals", said Standard Bank in a
note.
Oil firmed after Thursday's sharp fall, sparked by China's
decision to raise energy prices. The news increased fears that
demand from the world's second largest oil consumer could fall.
[]
While sliding oil prices brought gold down from their highs
Thursday afternoon, an increased focus on inflation could be
positive for medium term demand for gold, which is typically
bought as a hedge against rising prices.
"China's decision to hike fuel prices again reflects the
level of concern towards inflation, and will continue to draw
investment demand towards gold," said James Moore of
TheBullionDesk.com.
Meanwhile the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said on Friday its
gold holdings fell by 368,000 ounces month-on-month to 35.02
million ounces at the end of May.
Among other precious metals, spot platinum <XPT=> rose to
$2,053.00/2,063.00 an ounce from $2,036.50/2,056.50 late in New
York on Thursday.
Palladium <XPD=> dipped to $468.50/473.50 an ounce from
$469.00/477.00, having hit a high of $477.00 an ounce on
Thursday. Meanwhile silver was trading at $17.38/17.44 against
$17.39/17.44.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Christopher Johnson)
