PRECIOUS-Gold eases slightly, ETF steady

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Gold eased slightly on Wednesday
after rising the previous session on the dollar's decline amid
speculation that major emerging countries could diversify their
reserves away from the U.S. currency.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Gold XAU= was at $932.40 per ounce at 2350 GMT, down 0.2
percent from New York's notional close of $934.10.

* U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCQ9 were at
$932.40 per ounce, up 0.02 percent.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research), said its holdings stood at 1,132.15 tonnes
as of June 16, unchanged for eight business days. [GOL/SPDR]

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday as mixed economic data and
Best Buy's disappointing sales spurred worries about an anemic
recovery. [.N]

* The dollar fell across the board on Tuesday, pressured by
comments from Russia suggesting a need for a global reserve
currency other than the greenback. [USD/]

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Wednesday: ECON

- Australia dwelling unit starts for Q1 (0130 GMT)

- Swiss April retail sales (0715 GMT)

- UK labour market data (0830 GMT)

- Euro zone April trade data (0900 GMT)

- Weekly U.S. mortgage market index (1100 GMT)

- U.S. CPI/Core CPI for May (1230 GMT)

- U.S. current account for Q1 (1230 GMT)

- U.S. real earnings for May (1230 GMT)

RELATED NEWS
> Gold rises as dollar's reserve status in focus [GOL/]
> Lumber jumps near 9-month high; other markets drop [COM/WRAP]
> Gold gains limited by deflation [ID:nN15628912]
> US housing starts jump in May, inflation muted [ID:nN16262919]
> BRIC demands more clout, steers clear of dollar [ID:nLG674351]

PRICES

Precious metals prices at 2352 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI
Spot gold $932.40 -$1.70 -0.18% +3.95% $860.10 37
Spot silver $14.13 -$0.04 -0.28% +17.95% $11.29 35
Spot plat $1214.00 -$1.00 -0.08% +0.83% $1191.23 45
COMEX gold $931.50 -$3.90 -0.42% +0.50% $946.21 37
TOCOM gold 2,918 21 +0.72% -1.68% 2,957 35
TOCOM plat 3,830 38 +1.00% -2.07% 3,705 49
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.381 -$0.002 -0.16% +0.17%
Dlr/yen 96.10 -0.22 -0.23% -1.76%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)