Gold extends gains as ETF holdings hit record

Gold gained on Wednesday after holdings in the world's largest bullion-backed ETF hit another record as investors sought safety from tumbling stock markets.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose $4.55 to $1,242.55 an ounce by 9:01 p.m. EDT after volatile trade on Tuesday, when it dropped toward $1,220 before bouncing to around $1,241. Gold struck a record above $1,264 an ounce last week.

* U.S. gold futures for August delivery were steady at $1,243.4 an ounce.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P) said its holdings rose to a record 1,320.436 metric tons by June 29 from 1,316.177 metric tons on June 24.

MARKET NEWS

* The yen and the Swiss franc held on to broad gains on Wednesday as nervous investors rushed to unwind leveraged carry trades on the back of a significant deterioration in risk appetite.

* Japan's Nikkei average fell more than 2 percent to a seven-month low on Wednesday after investors fled the U.S. stock market and the S&P 500 tumbled in a sell-off triggered by a wave of rising alarm over the global economic outlook.

* U.S. crude fell for a third day on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened and economic woes intensified, shrugging off news that a quarter of U.S. Gulf production had been shut and a bigger-than-expected drop in the nation's crude inventories.

Precious metals prices at 9:01 p.m. EDT

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover

Spot Gold 1242.55 4.55 +0.37 13.40

Spot Silver 18.50 0.04 +0.22 9.92

Spot Platinum 1532.00 -7.50 -0.49 4.43

Spot Palladium 450.50 0.50 +0.11 11.10

TOCOM Gold 3549.00 5.00 +0.14 8.90 27847

TOCOM Platinum 4406.00 -64.00 -1.43 0.57 15137

TOCOM Silver 53.30 -0.30 -0.56 3.09 204

TOCOM Palladium 1295.00 -41.00 -3.07 11.16 232

Euro/Dollar 1.2179

Dollar/Yen 88.52