RTRS:PRECIOUS-Spot gold falls 1 pct on lack of detailed Fed plan
* Lack of details in Fed's stimulus plan prompts gold
sell-off
* Spot gold to revisit $1,838.29/oz -technicals
* Coming up: U.S. Midwest manufacturing, July; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices; adds detail)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Spot gold fell more than 1
percent on Monday, reversing a rally of 3.2 percent in the
previous session, as investors faced with uncertainties over the
U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus plans decided to take some money
off the table.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday stopped
short of detailing further action to boost the economy but said
the central bank would consider what more it could do to fight
high unemployment.
"The market didn't really get much insight as to what the
Fed may or may not do," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading
at Investec Australia.
"It is an opportunity to take some profit off the table
after the run-up, given that we are not going to get anything
from the Fed for a while."
Cash gold fell as much as 1.2 percent to $1,806.29 an
ounce and stood at $1,815.06 by 0629 GMT. Prices lost more than
1 percent last week, snapping seven straight weeks of gains.
U.S. gold GCcv1 gained 1.2 percent to $1,818.
Technical analysis suggested spot gold could rise to
$1,838.29 on Monday, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Speculators cut their long positions in U.S. gold futures
and options last week for a third straight week even as bullion
prices shot up above $1,900, data from the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission showed.
Echoing the cut in longs in futures and options, holdings in
the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold
Trust , recorded an outflow of nearly 60 tonnes last week,
its largest weekly outflow since the fund was launched in
November 2004.
"There was profit-taking around the $1,830 level, and people
are still watching the dollar, U.S. data and the euro zone's
debt issue," said a gold dealer in Hong Kong, adding that many
physical market participants had retreated to the sidelines
waiting for a clear direction in an unusually choppy market.
The dollar came under light pressure against a basket of
major currencies in Asia on Monday, with traders speculating the
Federal Reserve may offer more stimulus next month in the face
of an uncertain growth outlook.
Market participants are eyeing data due later in the day
including U.S. personal income and consumption, mid-west
manufacturing and pending home sales, for clues on the status of
the world's largest economy.
"Investors will remain nervous and gold is likely a
beneficiary as a result," said Investec's Heathcote, "I can't
see it falling much below $1,700 if at all, with a likelihood of
pushing higher in the days ahead, if we don't get any good
news."
Precious metals prices 0629 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1815.06 -13.44 -0.74 27.87
Spot Silver 41.04 -0.45 -1.08 32.99
Spot Platinum 1828.24 0.59 +0.03 3.44
Spot Palladium 753.22 1.22 +0.16 -5.79
COMEX GOLD DEC1 1818.00 20.70 +1.15 27.90 35963
COMEX SILVER SEP1 41.07 0.11 +0.28 32.72 3979
Euro/Dollar 1.4536
Dollar/Yen 76.71
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months