RTRS: PRECIOUS-Gold firms, off 5-week high hit day earlier
Gold rose above $910 per ounce on Friday but was off a five-week high of $925.15 marked the previous day, as its safe-haven allure waned on bets that global economic pain could be easing.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Gold was at $913.00 at 0024 GMT, up 0.4 percent from New York's notional close of $909.05.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said holdings stood at 1,104.09 tonnes on Thursday, unchanged from the previous day. [GOL/SPDR]
* U.S. gold futures eased 0.2 percent to $914 per ounce after settling at $915.50 on Thursday on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* The dollar and the yen remained steady on Friday after stress test results show none of the 19 U.S. banks examined faces insolvency, but some of the biggest need to raise more capital. [nN07333426] [USD/]
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stock futures edged up in late trade after the results of the stress tests were released, and shares of several major banks also rose after the bell. Citigroup gained 6.6 percent. [.N]
* Japan's Nikkei 225-share average <.N225> slipped 0.4 percent on Friday, with banks edging down after U.S. regulators told top banks to raise $74.6 billion. [.T]
* U.S. crude futures edged higher towards $57 a barrel on Friday, extending a 5.3 percent rise over the past two days, buoyed by growing signs for an economic recovery that could lift ailing world energy demand. [O/R]
