US gold ends down, bullion held by ETF near high

NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures finishedslightly lower on Monday, as the precious metals market took abreather from last week's rally, but a weakened dollar and morebullish sentiment limited losses. Bullion's recent rise prompted investors to increase holdings
in StreetTRACKS Gold Shares the world's largest gold
exchange-traded funds (ETF) by far, to a near-record level. "There is good-sized buying out there with the current market
price. We are also seeing the buyers move up their targets a
little bit. I think the market will be supported underneath here,"
said Paul McLeod, vice president of precious metals at Commerzbank
in New York. Most-active gold for August delivery (GCQ7: on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down $3.20 at
$681.50 an ounce, dealing between $680.50 and $685.80. On Friday, gold futures rallied to a two-month high of
$687.60, which marked their loftiest level since May 10. Last
week, August gold gained nearly $18, or 2.6 percent, as the dollar
fell to record lows against the euro on worries related to U.S.
subprime mortgage sector. Most recent data showed bullion held by StreetTRACKS
(XAUEXT-NYS-TT: increased to 497.15 tonnes, near its all-time high
of 500.72 tonnes set on April 17. It has also gained more than 20
tonnes above 473.45 tonnes reported on July 6. Changes in gold and silver ETF holdings are closely watched by
market participants because sharp inflows in gold ETFs could
be a bullish signal as they show longer-term retail investors are
entering the market.