>Gold steady in Asia; still looks vulnerable

Singapore - Gold was slightly higher in a quiet Asian session but traders don't see much incentive to get involved in the short term.

The yellow metal is likely to continue to struggle through the seasonally slow July and August period with lack of consensus on the economic outlook reducing investor interest, said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec in Sydney.

"It's a difficult time for gold at the moment," he said. "I think the next few pieces of U.S. data are key to the market making a decision about where we are on economic growth."

Heathcote said positive data would help equities and undermine the dollar, indirectly supporting gold, with forex market movements still far and away the dominant influence on precious metals.

At 0640 GMT spot gold was at $912.80 a troy ounce, up 50 cents but off its intraday high, responding to a slight weakening in the euro against the dollar. Tocom June 2010 gold was at Y2,737 a gram, down Y8. Spot silver was at $12.83/oz, up 1 cent.

Mitsui Global Precious Metals said in a note that silver didn't enjoy anything like gold's Thursday bounce and was technically still biased downward.

"The chart is pointing the market back to $12, which will provide some fantastic opportunities for industrial users," it said.

Platinum was looking stronger, sustaining itself above the $1,100/oz level with supply-side issues coming to the fore in South Africa, and accelerating auto sales data from China both proving supportive.

Spot platinum was at $1,107/oz, up $1, while Tocom June 2010 platinum finally found some support, rising Y11 to Y3,318/gram.

Spot gold eases on stronger dollar, weak oil

London - Spot gold eased Friday in a sluggish session as the metal tracked the dollar and lower crude oil prices.

Traders said volumes were extremely thin and investors and physical consumers were showing little trading interest. Most said they expected further range-trading in the short term.

At 1041 GMT, spot gold was trading at USD909.20 a troy ounce, down 0.25% on the day. Spot silver fell 1.6% to USD12.617/oz.

Spot platinum was down 0.7% at USD1,097/ton, while spot palladium edged 0.2% higher to USD233.50/oz.

"No one's doing any business," said a spot gold trader in London.

Gold has been caught up in the selloff of equities and other risk assets in the past week. Disappointing economic data have underlined concerns that the global economy may take longer to emerge from recession than markets had been pricing in.

"A lack of confidence in the underlying economy, I think that's what's undermined things this week," said Tom Kendall, a precious metals analyst at Mitsubishi Corp. in London.

While gold is often bought as a safe haven, the metal is unlikely to perform well when growth is poor and consumer spending declines unless there is a flight to safety at the same time, analysts said.

That isn't happening at the moment because the market doesn't appear to be worried about insolvencies at large banks and other financial institutions, said the London-based trader.

The threat of inflation, which buoyed gold in recent months, has also receded. "There's no evidence inflation is anywhere," said the London-based trader.

Platinum and palladium are similarly being pressured by this week's risk selloff, and may drop further in the short term, said Kendall.

The summer months are normally a period of slack demand and Chinese imports have dropped in recent weeks, putting further pressure on platinum, he said.

"I think we could drop another $50 to $100 before we find a bottom."

India gold futures dn 0.3% on INR strength

Singapore - India August MCX gold contract down 0.3% at INR14,445/10 grams as INR extends gains; overseas spot gold nearly unchanged. Investment in gold has remained sluggish in past few days, says Debjyoti Chatterjee of Admisi Commodities; tips contract in INR14,390-INR14,560 range today; adds, to watch U.S. trade prices for further cues.

Source: COMMODITIESCONTROL