RTRS: PRECIOUS-Gold slips as euro stabilises; ETF unchanged
SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) - Gold edged down on Monday as the euro steadied against the U.S. dollar, but worries about Europe's debt woes still underpinned sentiment.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was at $1,210.50 an ounce by 0035 GMT, down $2.25 from New York's notional close on Friday, when it gained after Fitch Rating cut Spain's debt ratings. Gold hit a record of $1,248.95 in mid-May on fears the euro zone credit problems were spreading.
* U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell $2.6 an ounce to $1,212.4 an ounce.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings were unchanged at a record of 1,267.930 tonnes as of May 28. [GOL/SPDR]
MARKET NEWS
* The euro was steady at $1.2282 , staying above a four-year low of $1.2143 hit this month. Investors may avoid building positions up as the United States and the UK are on holiday on Monday, though some month-end flows may be seen in the market. [USD/]
* Japan's Nikkei average lost 0.2 percent on Monday after a downgrade of Spain's credit rating reinforced worries about euro zone debt issues, spooking global investors and sending Wall Street lower. [.T]
* U.S. crude futures were mostly steady just under $74 a barrel on Monday in thin trading, with U.S.-based traders off for the three-day U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. [O/R]
DATA EVENTS
The following data is expected on Monday :
- U.S. Fed's Bernanke, ECB'S Trichet speak via video, Seoul
(0025 GMT) - Euro Zone money supply data (0800 GMT) - Euro Zone sentiment survey (0800 GMT) - Euro Zone flash harmonised CPI
(0900 GMT)
RELATED NEWS > France warns on credit rating, Germany on taxes [nLDE64T0A8] > Japan May manufacturing PMI at almost 4-year high [nTKC005843] > Japan April industrial output up 1.3 pct mth/mth [nTKZ006441] > China inflation to peak in summer-economist [nTOE64T012] > UK house prices up 2.0 pct yy in May - Hometrack [nLDE64R220] > US spending stalls, but confidence, incomes gain [nN28167458] > Asian shares to ease as euro-zone woes return [nSGE64T02G] > China urges region to step back from Korea clash [nTOE64T002] Precious metals prices at 0035 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1210.50 -2.25 -0.19 10.48 Spot Silver 18.34 0.01 +0.05 8.97 Spot Platinum 1548.00 7.00 +0.45 5.52 Spot Palladium 455.25 -1.25 -0.27 12.27 TOCOM Gold 3566.00 1.00 +0.03 9.42 14061 TOCOM Platinum 4563.00 -9.00 -0.20 4.15 6461 TOCOM Silver 54.50 -0.50 -0.91 5.42 232 TOCOM Palladium 1340.00 -23.00 -1.69 15.02 317 Euro/Dollar 1.2307 Dollar/Yen 91.37 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)