Gold steadies in European trade

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SINGAPORE, Mar 29 (Commodity Online): Gold steadied in European trade Tuesday after trading lower for three consecutive sessions. Analysts said the precious yellow metal was aided by continued debt worries over Euro zone and mounting tensions in Middle East and North Africa. Spot gold was seen trading at $1,419.53 an ounce at 8am London time, while April gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was at $1,421.60 per troy ounce. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings fell to 1,211.836 tonnes on March 28, the lowest since March 4, from 1,213.959 tonnes a day before. Silver futures for May delivery were at $37.088 an ounce. The price headed for the ninth straight quarterly gain. The dollar index, a pro-rated measure of the dollar against six major currencies, fell fractionally, dropping 0.04 per cent.