Gold stuck near five-year low as selling pressure continues

Gold bars and granules are pictured at the Austrian Gold and Silver Separating Plant 'Oegussa' in Vienna. - Reuters filepic

MANILA: Gold hovered close to its weakest level since March 2010 early on Thursday, with no convincing recovery in sight after an early-week rout only spurred sellers to cut their exposure.

Holdings in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares , fell further on Wednesday to the lowest level since 2008.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,094.33 an ounce by 0033 GMT, after sliding more than 1 percent to $1,086.89 on Wednesday.

* Gold's rout deepened after tumbling as much as 4 percent on Monday in a sell-off exacerbated by big trading volumes on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after investors dumped more than $500 million of bullion in New York in four seconds during early Asian trading hours.

* U.S. gold for August delivery was up 0.2 percent at $1,093.10 an ounce, after a 10-session decline.

* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust dropped to 22,097,657.77 ounces on Wednesday, the lowest since August 2008, as outflows continued from last week. [GOL/ETF]

* U.S. home resales rose in June to their highest level in nearly 8-1/2 years, a sign of pent-up demand that should buoy the housing market recovery and likely keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates later this year, denting gold's safe=haven draw.

* Palladium investors are keeping record bets on a further slump in the market as broad-based weakness plagues the precious metals complex, but some analysts say the metal's slide to 3 1/2-year lows is overwrought and a supply deficit will help the metal reclaim lost territory.

* Gold miner Newmont Mining Corp reported higher second-quarter adjusted earnings, in line with analyst expectations, as lower oil prices and favorable exchange rates offset weaker metal prices.

* In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought to contain a rebellion in his left-wing Syriza party ahead of a vote on a second package of reforms required to start talks on a rescue deal.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [GOL/]

MARKET NEWS

* The dollar crawled off one-week lows against the yen while the New Zealand dollar rallied after the central bank there made a smaller cut to interest rates than some had expected. [USD/]

* Asian shares slipped after disappointing earnings from tech giants weighed on Wall Street. [MKTS/GLOB]

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

1230 U.S. National activity index June

1400 Euro zone Flash consumer confidence July

1400 U.S. Leading index June- Reuters