PRECIOUS-Gold rises towards $960 as dollar weakens

TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Gold climbed towards $960 on
Monday, approaching the three-week high it hit in the previous
session, lifted by strong investment demand and buying linked to
a weaker dollar.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Gold XAU= was at $959.55 an ounce at 2359 GMT, up 0.5
percent from the New York notional close of $954.45.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ9 were at
$960.50 an ounce, up 0.2 percent.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), said holdings stood at 1,061.83 tonnes as
of Aug. 28, steady from the previous business day. [GOL/SPDR]

* Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions rose 3.1
percent to 182,982 lots in the week to Aug 25 from 177,530 lots,
a weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
showed. [ID:nN28604357]

MARKET NEWS

* The yen was trading modestly firmer on Monday after the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ousted the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party in a landslide, putting an end to election
uncertainty. [USD/]

* U.S. crude oil CLc1 rose to extend gains above $73 on
Monday, supported by a slightly weaker U.S. dollar and optimism
that world energy demand would rise on the back of a global
economic recovery. [O/R]

* U.S. stocks mostly slipped on Friday after a week consumer
sentiment report offset positive news from bellwethers Dell Inc
(DELL.O) and Intel Corp (INTC.O).

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday: ECON

- Australia August TD-MI inflation gauge (0030 GMT)

- Australia Q2 business inventories and profits (0130 GMT)

- Australia July private credit (0130 GMT)

- Japan July housing starts, construction orders (0500 GMT)

- Italian June retail sales (0800 GMT)

- Euro zone August flash HICP (0900 GMT)

- Chicago August PMI (1345 GMT)

- Dallas Fed August Texas manufacturing survey (1430 GMT)

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PRICES

Precious metals prices at 2353 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $958.45 $4.00 +0.42% +6.85% $860.10 65
Spot silver $14.82 $0.08 +0.54% +23.71% $11.29 70
Spot plat $1241.50 -$2.50 -0.20% -0.20% $1239.00 51
COMEX gold $958.70 $1.20 +0.13% +1.40% $949.05 63
TOCOM gold 2,884 13 +0.45% +0.87% 2,904 47
TOCOM plat 3,753 11 +0.29% +0.91% 3,775 47
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.430 -$0.001 -0.04% +0.03%
Dlr/yen 93.37 0.12 +0.13% -0.29%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)