PRECIOUS-Gold inches up on easing dollar, global concerns
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust fall
* Spot gold may hover below $1,235/oz - technicals
(Adds quotes, updates prices)
By Eileen Soreng
BENGALURU, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged higher onMonday towards a 2-1/2-month peak hit last week as the dollareased and worries over rising political tensions and slowingglobal economic growth lent support to the metal.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,226.43 an ounce at0745 GMT. On Oct. 15, the bullion touched its highest since July26 at $1,233.26.
U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,229.40an ounce.
"So far we are seeing a good recipe for gold prices torecover. One is global economic slowdown, another isgeopolitical uncertainties," said Argonaut Securities analystHelen Lau.
"If the tensions loom large we could see gold reboundthrough 1,300."
The outlook for global growth in 2019 has dimmed for thefirst time, according to Reuters polls of economists who saidthe U.S.-China trade war and tightening financial conditionswould trigger the next downturn. Geo-political concerns including tensions between SaudiArabia and the West over the killing of journalist JamalKhashoggi, developments related to Brexit, and Italy's budgetwoes are keeping investors interested in gold, analysts said.Gold is seen as a safe store of value during political andeconomic uncertainty.
"Trade concerns between the U.S. and China remain elevatedand the ongoing U.S.-Saudi tensions are likely to continue tounderpin a bid tone for bullion over the near-term," MKS PAMPGroup traders said in a note.
"Supportive price action around $1,210-$1,220 shouldrestrict declines amid current global political uncertainty,while a test through $1,230-$1,235 will likely squeeze furthershorts out of the market and see gold toward $1,250."
Gold speculators cut their net short position in COMEX goldcontracts by 65,637 contracts to 37,372 contracts, the smallestsince late July, in the week to Oct. 16, data showed. Spot gold may either consolidate further below a resistanceat $1,235 per ounce, or break a support at $1,217, to fall tothe next support at $1,208, according to Reuters technicalanalyst Wang Tao. Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-tradedfund, SPDR Gold Trust , fell 0.39 percent to 745.82 tonneson Friday. The U.S. dollar , which measures the greenback againsta basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2 percent. Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.4percent at $14.65 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.8percent at $836.20 per ounce.
Palladium climbed 0.9 percent to $1,089.80 per ounce,closer to an over eight-month peak of $1,096.80 hit on Oct. 11.
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng and Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru;Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Vyas Mohan)
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