PRECIOUS-Gold falls to 1-month low on weak physical demand
* Several major Asian markets shut for Lunar New Year
* Technical selling accelerates below $1,650 an ounce
* Coming up: U.S. redbook retail sales data Tuesday
(New updates throughout, adds NEW YORK to dateline, second byline) NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Gold fell to a one-month low on Monday, hit by technical selling after prices slid through support at $1,650 an ounce, and as investment appetite for physical metal dropped. Analysts said downward moves were exaggerated due to low liquidity, as China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and other Asian markets were closed this week for Lunar New Year. "Until physical bullion buyers resurface, we see gold as likely to face further near-term pressure," said HSBC metals analyst James Steel. Spot gold fell as much as 1.4 percent to $1,643.24 an ounce, its lowest since Jan. 7. Selling accelerated as the metal broke below its late January low of $1,651.93, traders said. Bullion was down 1.1 percent at $1,647.80 an ounce by 4:18 p.m. EST (2118 GMT). U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled down $17.80 at $1,649.10 an ounce, with trading volume about 5 percent above its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Weaker Brent crude futures and copper market amid renewed economic worries also weighed down on the metal's inflation-hedge appeal, traders said. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, showed a 1.2-tonne outflow in holdings so far in February, compared to inflows of 6.05 tonnes in the same 2012-period. Silver was down 1.3 percent at $30.99 an ounce.
G20 MEETING IN FOCUS Markets will be on watch for any discussion on the strength of the euro ahead of the G20 meeting at the end of the week. Two G20 officials said separately that the Group of Seven nations are considering issuing a statement reaffirming their commitment to "market-determined" exchange rates in response to heating rhetoric about a currency war. Among other precious metals, platinum was down 1.4 percent to $1,689 an ounce, well below last week's high of $1,740 an ounce. Palladium edged up 0.5 percent to $755.97 an ounce. Year to date, platinum group metals have outperformed gold and silver on a combination of supply signs of improved global economy, which bode well for the metals' industrial demand.
4:18 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL US Gold APR 1649.10 -17.80 -1.1 1644.10 1670.30 148,778 US Silver MAR 30.91 -0.531 -1.7 30.820 31.535 34,572 US Plat APR 1696.10 -18.60 -1.1 1685.50 1720.00 10,794 US Pall MAR 758.60 7.10 0.9 744.00 761.85 4,757Gold 1647.80 -19.09 -1.1 1644.15 1669.31 Silver 30.990 -0.400 -1.3 30.840 31.510 Platinum 1689.00 -24.00 -1.4 1689.75 1716.50 Palladium 755.97 3.47 0.5 746.50 759.47TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG US Gold 182,069 180,140 172,544 14.08 0.66 US Silver 39,672 45,814 51,737 19.73 -0.94 US Platinum 11,117 17,112 11,057 15.74 -1.47 US Palladium 5,631 4,746 4,761
(Editing by David Gregorio)