Gold steady; eyes on Franco-German summit

SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Spot gold held onto the gains
made in the previous session on Tuesday as dismal U.S. data
added to concerns about economic growth, while investors wait
for a meeting between France and Germany for any solutions to
the euro zone debt crisis.   
       
    FUNDAMENTALS   
    * Spot gold was little changed at $1,764.09 an ounce
by 0021 GMT, after rising 1 percent in the previous session.   
    * U.S. gold GCcv1 rose half a percent to $1,767.20 an
ounce.   
    * The largest gold fund players including hedge fund titan
John Paulson stuck with their bullion bets in the second
quarter, opting not to follow George Soros who further reduced
his gold ETF holdings.    
    * Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, stood at 1,260.173 tonnes by
Aug. 15, unchanged from Friday.    
    * The latest U.S. data showed manufacturing in the New York
area contracted for the third straight month in August, boding
ill for growth prospects.    
    * Investors are eyeing a meeting between France's Nicolas
Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel on how to make the euro zone
work more effectively amid persistent doubts in financial
markets over Europe's ability to solve its sovereign debt
crisis.    
    * Spot platinum gained 0.4 percent, on course for its
sixth consecutive session of gains, its best run since January.   
      
    MARKET NEWS   
    * Wall Street stocks rose for a third day on Monday as
investors saw Google's offer for phone maker Motorola Mobility
as an excuse to jump back into the market after weeks of sharp
selling.    
    * The euro hovered below a two-week high against the Swiss
franc hit in the previous session on speculation the Swiss
National Bank may take action to curb gains in the currency by
setting an exchange-rate target this week, while the dollar
index edged up 0.1 percent.    
          
    DATA/EVENTS   
 0600  Germany   GDP flash yy             Apr 2011 
 0900  EZ        Eurostat trade nsa, EUR  Jun 2011 
 0900  EZ        GDP flash estimate yy    Apr 2011 
 1145  U.S.      ICSC chain stores yy     Weekly   
 1230  U.S.      Import prices mm         Jul       
 1230  U.S.      Build permits: change mm Jul       
 1230  U.S.      House starts mm: change  Jul      
 1230  U.S.      Housing starts number mm Jul       
 1315  U.S.      Industrial output mm     Jul        
   
    PRICES   
 Precious metals prices at 0021 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1764.09   -0.91   -0.05     24.28
  Spot Silver        39.68   -0.16   -0.40     28.58
  Spot Platinum    1810.24    6.79   +0.38      2.42
  Spot Palladium    749.49    5.19   +0.70     -6.26
  TOCOM Gold       4363.00   62.00   +1.44     17.00        28654
  TOCOM Platinum   4512.00   41.00   +0.92     -3.92         3400
  TOCOM Silver       97.50    1.30   +1.35     20.37          318
  TOCOM Palladium  1875.00   -6.00   -0.32    -10.59           46
  COMEX GOLD DEC1  1767.20    9.20   +0.52     24.33         3554
  COMEX SILVER SEP1  39.70    0.39   +1.00     28.31         1605
  Euro/Dollar       1.4429
  Dollar/Yen         76.77
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

Sources : http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL3E7JG01Q20110816