Gold retreated from record highs on Wednesday as the dollar steadied from a 14-month low against major currencies, with traders eyeing further dollar weakness as an impetus to push bullion to new highs. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,063.30 an ounce, slipping from an all-time high of $1,068.30 an ounce hit on Tuesday. Gold has rallied 12 percent since the beginning of September. * Most-active December gold futures GCZ9 were unchanged at $1,065.0 from the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures hit a record high of $1,069.7 on Tuesday. * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research), said its holdings stood at 1,109.314 tonnes as of Oct. 13, unchanged from the previous business day. [GOL/SPDR] * The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV: Quote, Profile, Research), said its bullion holdings rose 18.35 tonnes, or 0.2 percent, from the previous day to 8,612.57 tonnes on Tuesday. * Gold's rally pulled other precious metals higher on Tuesday. Silver XAG= rose above $18 an ounce for the first time since July 2008, to $18.01. Silver was at $17.75 on Wednesday. Platinum XPT= hit a 13-month high of $1,361.50 on Tuesday and stood at $1,355.50 on Wednesday. MARKET NEWS * The dollar steadied on Wednesday after falling to a 14-month low the previous day against major currencies .DXY, with investors betting the United States is likely to bring up the rear in a global economic recovery led by Asia and commodity-producing countries. [USD/] * U.S. stocks weakened on Tuesday as disappointing sales from Johnson & Johnson stirred jitters about the strength of earnings, snapping the S&P 500's six-day winning streak. [.N] * Traders awaited earnings from key U.S. companies later in the week for clues to the state of the economy.

Source