US gold ends up slightly, near-term weakness seen

NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures ended a tad
higher in mixed trade on Tuesday as a dollar bounce prompted
bullion investors to stay on the sidelines, but short-term
consolidation could continue following a recent rally, traders
said.

For the latest detailed report, click on [GOL/].

GOLD

* December gold futures GCZ9 settled up 30 cents at
$994.40 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.

* Ranged from $986.10 to $997.20.

* Profit-taking not surprising after recent rallies and
ahead of the traditionally strong demand period, and
consolidation could continue in the near term - David Meger,
vice president and director of metals trading with Vision
Financial Markets in Chicago.

* Gold was initially pressured as U.S. dollar rallied
against the euro and other major currencies, as weaker
sentiment in the equities market triggered flight-to-quality
buying into the greenback.

* A stronger dollar and significant outflows in silver
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) led to weaker gold - Tom Pawlicki,
precious metals and energy analyst at MF Global.

* Potential liquidation due to record level of
noncommercial long, or speculative, positions in the gold
futures market hurt buying sentiment.

* Gold remains above the support levels between $987 and
$989, and the overall set-up trend still remains bullish -
CitiFX, Citigroup's technical research unit.

* Gold-to-oil ratio at 14.92, up from the previous
session's 14.80.

* Gold is likely to outperform crude oil, and the gold/oil
ratio is expected to rise toward its 200-day moving average at
17.28, or 15 percent above current levels - CitiFX.

* COMEX estimated 1 p.m. volume at 104,935 lots.

* Spot gold XAU= was at $992.60 at 2:40 p.m. EDT (1840
GMT) versus $989.95, which was the previous session's late New
York quote.

* London afternoon gold fix XAUFIX= was at $989.50.

SILVER

* December silver SIZ9 ended down 1.7 cent at $16.178 an
ounce on weak ETF demand.

* iShares Silver Trust, the world's largest silver-backed
ETF, said its bullion holdings fell 1.5 percent to a four-month
low as of Sept. 25.

* Ranged from $16.010 to $16.320.

* COMEX estimated 1 p.m. volume at 21,832 lots.

* Spot silver XAG= was at $16.14, versus its previous
finish of 16.14 an ounce.

* London silver fix XAGFIX= at $16.07 an ounce.

PLATINUM

* January platinum PLF0 finished down $12.60 at $1,278.20
an ounce, as the market fell in tandem with other metals.

* Spot platinum XPT= was at $1,266.50, compared with its
previous finish of $1,273.50.

PALLADIUM

* December palladium PAZ9 closed down $3.90, or 1.3
percent, at $290 an ounce, down with platinum.

* Spot palladium XPD= was at $286, against its previous
close of $286.

Close Change Pct 2008 YTD

Chg Close % Chg
US gold GCZ9 994.40 0.3 0.0 884.3 12.5
US silver SIZ9 16.178 -0.017 -0.1 11.295 43.2
US platinum PLF0 1278.20 -12.60 -1.0 941.50 35.8
US palladium PAZ9 290.00 -3.90 -1.3 188.70 53.7
Prices at 2:40 p.m. EDT (1840 GMT)
Gold XAU= 992.60 2.65 0.3 878.20 13.0
Silver XAG= 16.14 0.00 0.0 11.30 42.8
Platinum XPT= 1266.50 -7.00 -0.5 924.50 37.0
Palladium XPD= 286.00 0.000 0.0 184.50 55.0
Gold Fix XAUFIX= 989.50 -2.25 -0.2 836.50 18.3
Silver Fix XAGFIX= 16.07 16.00 1.0 14.76 8.9
Platinum Fix XPTFIX= 1270.00 8.00 0.6 1529 -16.9
Palladium FixXPDFIX= 288.00 2.00 0.7 365.0 -21.1
(Reporting by Frank Tang; Editing by Christian Wiessner)