Gold steady on euro zone concerns

SINGAPORE | Sun Jan 9, 2011 7:54pm EST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Monday, supported by renewed worries about the euro zone's financial stability, but a stronger dollar weighed on sentiment, while holdings in the top exchange-traded fund continued to decline.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold gained $1.05 at $1,369.85 an ounce by 0041 GMT, after finishing the first week of 2011 with a 3.6 percent decline.
* U.S. gold futures was little changed at $1,370.3.
* U.S. employers hired fewer workers than expected in December and a surprisingly large number of people gave up searching for work, tempering the positive news of a big drop in the unemployment rate.
* The dollar index .DXY rose to its highest since Dec 1, as the euro plumbed four-month lows versus the greenback early in Asia after stops were triggered in thin trade as worries about Europe's debt crisis mounted.
* Pressure is growing on Portugal from Germany, France and other euro zone countries to seek financial help from the EU and IMF to stop the bloc's debt crisis from spreading, a senior euro zone source said on Sunday.
* Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, continued to decline. It fell to a seven-month low of 1,271.164 tonnes by Jan 7.
* Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust, the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to a one-month low of 10,839.69 tonnes.

PRICES

Precious metals prices 0041 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1369.85 1.05 +0.08 -3.49
Spot Silver 28.84 0.15 +0.52 -6.55
Spot Platinum 1737.00 6.00 +0.35 -1.73
Spot Palladium 756.50 8.00 +1.07 -5.38
TOCOM Gold 3668.00 -14.00 -0.38 -1.64 32096
TOCOM Platinum 4679.00 -6.00 -0.13 -0.36 2932
TOCOM Silver 77.20 -0.10 -0.13 -4.69 805
TOCOM Palladium 2028.00 -8.00 -0.39 -3.29 391
Euro/Dollar 1.2898
Dollar/Yen 82.95
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.