RTRS: RPT-PRECIOUS-Gold steady as dollar eyed; TOCOM halts trade
Gold was little changed on
Tuesday, taking a breather a day after paring a 3 percent gain
made last week on a rebound in the dollar, while declines in
global stock markets underpinned its allure as a safe-haven
asset.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average .N225 fell 1.4 percent after
hitting a six-month closing high the previous day, while the
dollar edged down against a basket of currencies towards
Monday's four-month low but held firm versus the euro.
[.T][USD/]
If another sell-off hits U.S. stocks later in the day and
boosts the dollar's appeal to investors, as it did on Monday,
gold could test $900 because of its failure to rise decisively
above $920 in the past weeks, analysts said.
"The market doesn't have enough confidence to break this
resistance" at the $918-$920 level that has been capping gold
since late April, said Louis Lok, a dealer at Bank of China in
Hong Kong.
"Now gold could go under $900," he said.
Spot gold was at $913.90 an ounce at 0323 GMT, up
0.1 percent from New York's notional close of $912.60.
On Monday it fell about 0.4 percent as the dollar rebounded
from a four-month low against a basket of currencies .DXY,
making dollar-priced bullion pricier for non-U.S. investors.
"The market has lost appetite for safe-haven buying of gold
recently because of the fact that the investment market
situation has stabilised ... The (negative) correlation with
the U.S. dollar has been stronger than before," said Bank of
China's Lok.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery GCM9 edged up 0.1
percent to $914.2 per ounce after settling down $1.40 on Monday
on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research), said holdings stood at 1,104.09 tonnes
as of May 11, unchanged from the previous business day.
[GOL/SPDR]
Traders were cautious as the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
Japan's biggest commodity futures exchange, suspended trading
of all contracts as of 11:35 a.m. (0235 GMT) due to system
problems. [ID:nT147773]
It was the first glitch since the exchange launched a new
trading platform on May 7, extending trading hours in an
attempt to lure back investors amid the market's shrinking
liquidity.
The exchange is investigating the cause and it is not known
when trading would resume, a TOCOM spokesman said.
Precious metals prices at 0328 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 913.60 1.00 +0.11 9.72
Spot Silver 13.86 -0.05 -0.36 -6.16
Spot Platinum 1123.00 8.50 +0.76 -26.12
Spot Palladium 235.00 1.50 +0.64 -36.14
TOCOM Gold 2868.00 -48.00 -1.65 -6.27
18166
TOCOM Platinum 3543.00 -90.00 -2.48 -33.64
8001
TOCOM Silver 431.50 -8.90 -2.02 -20.24
136
TOCOM Palladium 748.00 -34.00 -4.35 -44.63
271
Euro/Dollar 1.3605
Dollar/Yen 97.33
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.