* Gold stays near $890 as investors wary about dumping gold
* Buying limited due to receding safe-haven demand
* SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) holdings unchanged at record
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Gold was steady around $890 per
ounce on Wednesday as investors watched equity markets to gauge
risk appetite and awaited U.S. earnings and manufacturing data
for more clues on the health of the global economy.
Traders said current prices were unlikely to draw either
buying or selling interest as investors pondered whether to
shift money into equities or hold on to gold.
Stock market sentiment has improved since a G20 meeting of
global leaders this month and after government stimulus
packages from around the world.
"There is not much interest at the $900 level as equities
look more exciting than gold and people are not feeling so much
pain," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers
in Hong Kong.
"But investors don't want to dump gold because they don't
know where to put the money," he said, adding that there was
still too much uncertainty over the global economic outlook to
let go of safe-haven assets.
He said gold would have to fall near $875 to draw buying
interest, including jewellery buying, or rise above $900 to
prompt selling.
Spot gold XAU= was trading at $891.05 per ounce, up 0.2
percent from New York's notional close of $888.85 on Tuesday.
Bullion last closed above $900 on April 2 before hitting a
2-½ month low of $864.30 last week.
Holdings at the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), were unchanged at a record
1,127.68 tonnes as of April 14, a level first reached on April
9. [GOL/SPDR]
Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 was down 0.8 percent,
while MSCI's measure of stocks elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific
region .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1.2 percent. [.T] [MKTS/GLOB]
Traders believe the precious metal's strength is intact as
investors remain cautious about U.S. corporate results.
U.S. March data for consumer prices, real earnings and
industrial production will be released later in the day.
Precious metals prices at 0305 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 890.50 1.65 +0.19 1.18
Spot Silver 12.72 0.00 +0.00 12.37
Spot Platinum 1214.00 10.00 +0.83 30.26
Spot Palladium 233.00 3.00 +1.30 26.29
TOCOM Gold 2844.00 -41.00 -1.42 10.53
12622
TOCOM Platinum 3855.00 -88.00 -2.23 45.36
15219
TOCOM Silver 401.40 -1.10 -0.27 25.71
176
TOCOM Palladium 750.00 -17.00 -2.22 36.36
191
Euro/Dollar 1.3242
Dollar/Yen 98.53
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Ben Tan)
