PRECIOUS-Gold steadies at $1,000/oz a day after retreat

TOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied at around
$1,000 per ounce on Tuesday, underpinned by a fall in the dollar
versus the euro, while investors were mostly cautious on whether
the metal's recent run to an 18-month high was overdone.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= edged up 0.2 percent to $1,000.85 per
ounce as of 0012 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of
$998.65. It hit $1,011.55 on Friday, its highest since March
2008.

* Gold jumped 1 percent on Friday, closing above $1,000 an
ounce for the first time since March 2008 as a slumping dollar
and inflation fears stirred investment demand for bullion.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ9 rose 0.2
percent to $1,002.80 per ounce. On Monday, the contract fell
$5.30 to $1,001.10 on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange, retreating further from a Friday high of
1,013.70, its highest since Feb. 20.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), said its holdings rose by 1.221 tonnes to
1,078.851 tonnes on Monday, marking their first rise since Sept.
3. [GOL/SPDR]

* ETF Securities said on Monday the amount of metal it holds
to back its gold exchange-traded commodities rose to record highs
in the week to Sept. 11. [ID:nLE717503]

MARKET NEWS

* The euro climbed in early trade on Tuesday, staying in
sight of its 2009 highs. [USD/]

* Surging investment demand for gold due to a weaker dollar
and inflation fears is likely to offset a decline in jewellery
buying this year, leading to an overall rise in demand, metals
consultancy GFMS said on Monday. [ID:nLE558489]

* Gold prices are likely to correct after their current run
above $1,000 an ounce, but may rebound to as high as $1,100
within the next six months if inflation fears grow, GFMS said in
an interview. [ID:nLE549254]

* Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.8 percent. [.T]

* U.S. stocks rose on Monday as reports of more merger
activity added to a string of recent deals, suggesting investors
still see value in the market after its run-up of more than 50
percent since March. [.N]

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Tuesday: ECON

- Germany ZEW economist sentiment for Sept (0900 GMT)

- Euro zone wages for Q2 (0900 GMT)

- U.S. PPI/Core PPI for Aug (1230 GMT)

- U.S. retail sales for Aug (1230 GMT)

- New York Fed Empire State survey for Sept (1230 GMT)

- Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke speaks (1400 GMT)

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PRICES

Precious metals prices at 0016 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $1001.50 $2.85 +0.29% +11.65% $860.10 73
Spot silver $16.64 $0.13 +0.79% +38.90% $11.29 75
Spot plat $1311.00 -$2.50 -0.19% +38.15% $948.98 77
COMEX gold $1001.60 $113.40 +12.77% +11.35% $857.64 72
TOCOM gold 2,944 361 +13.98% +12.84% 2,476 54
TOCOM plat 3,846 1106 +40.36% +39.10% 2,659 60
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.465 $0.151 +11.50% +11.15%
Dlr/yen 90.99 0.61 +0.67% +2.33%
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Joseph Radford)