The following are New York midsession prices and market updates for precious metals and copper: GOLD * Gold for April delivery drops $5.40 to $950.80 an ounce at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT) on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. * Ranged between $945.50 and $958.10. * Gold pressured as Wall Street rallies over 4 percent on strong housing data and a U.S. plan to woo investors to take on up to $1 trillion in banks' toxic assets. * Stronger dollar against the euro also weighs down on gold. * The Fed's sharp increase in money supply, however, will lead to higher gold prices in all currency terms, and the euro should be particularly vulnerable in terms of gold - analyst. * Noncommercial net long position in gold futures was up 5,607 lots at 150,395 contracts, while open interest also gained 1.3 percent in week up to March 17 - CFTC. [ID:nN20466578] * Strong investment inflows continue to support prices. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said holdings rose to a record 1,114.60 tonnes as of March 20, up 11.31 tonnes, or 1 percent, from the previous session. * The gold/oil ratio at 17.75 on Monday, compared with 18.24 the previous session. * COMEX estimated 11 a.m. volume at 76,272 lots, options turnover at 5,950 lots. * Spot gold was at $951.00 an ounce, up a hair from its last quote in New York late Friday. * London afternoon fix $949.25 an ounce. SILVER * COMEX May silver eases 3.0 cents at $13.810 an ounce, tracking gold. * Ranged $13.615 to an early session high of $13.885 -- the loftiest level since Feb. 25. * COMEX estimated 11 a.m. volume at 7,594 lots. * Spot silver at $13.76 an ounce, up 0.3 percent from its Friday finish. * Silver fixed in London at $13.76 an ounce. PLATINUM * NYMEX April platinum rises $27.70, or 2.5 percent, to $1,141.90 an ounce on optimism that an economic recovery will trigger autocatalyst demand. * Spot platinum at $1,133.40 an ounce, up 1.9 percent from its previous close. PALLADIUM * June palladium up $2.40, or 1.1 percent, at $213.30 an ounce, tracking a rally of other industrial metals. * Spot palladium at $210.50 an ounce, up 2.9 percent from its late Friday New York quote. COPPER * Benchmark COMEX copper for May delivery up 3.90 cents, or nearly 2 2 percent, at $1.8350 a lb. * Session range from $1.80 to $1.8750, a new high dating back to Nov. 10. * COMEX copper up in sympathy with equity markets amid improved economic outlook after U.S. government plan to rid banks of $1 trillion in toxic assets in an effort to revive lending. [ID:nSP429491] * Surprise 5.1 percent increase in U.S. existing home sales in February adds to upbeat market sentiment. [ID:nN23499930] * Copper rally additionally tied to demand optimism from China, the world's largest consumer of the red metal, after data showed the country consumer just over 1 million tonnes in the first two months of the year. [ID:nHKG169023] * London Metal Exchange copper warehouse stocks added another 4,375 tonnes on Monday, bringing the two-day total to nearly 15,000 tonnes. Stockpiles stood at 508,325 tonnes. * Canceled warrants -- material earmarked for delivery -- fell to 23,050 tonnes from 24,525 tonnes on Friday. * COMEX copper warehouse stocks were unchanged at 44,441 short tons as of Friday. * COMEX noncommercial net short position narrowed to 18,847 lots in the week ending March 17, down from 20,076 in the week prior. Open interest rose to 92,910 lots from previous week's 86,966 lots. [ID:nN20466578] * London Metal Exchange copper for three months delivery was last up $85 at $4,040 a tonne. * Earlier, it surged to a fresh 4-1/2-month peak at $4,135.

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