Gold ticked higher on Monday, holding near last week's record, but a rebound in the U.S. dollar and the absence of Japanese speculators could limit gains. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold XAU= was quoted at $1,050.50 an ounce at 0038 GMT, up $2.25 from New York's notional close and within striking distance of a lifetime high of $1,061.20 an ounce struck last Thursday. * Gold ended nearly 5 percent higher for the week as dollar weakness pushed gold to a series of record highs. Investors bought the metal as an alternative to paper currencies, and a weaker dollar also makes gold cheaper for non-U.S. investors. * U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ9 added $3.30 an ounce to $1,051.90 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, hovering near last week's record around $1,062 an ounce. * Noncommercial net longs in COMEX gold futures rose to an all-time high 239,668 lots in the week ended Oct. 9, up 3.6 percent from the previous week, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed. [ID:nWEN4566] * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, said its holdings stood at 1,109.314 tonnes as of Oct. 9, unchanged from the previous business day. XAUEXT-NYS-TT. The holdings rose to a record high of 1,134.03 tonnes on June 1. [GOL/SPDR] MARKET NEWS * The U.S. dollar held above recent 14-month lows against a basket of currencies on Monday as traders trimmed some of their short dollar positions on prospects that U.S. interest rates will move up earlier than expected. [USD/] * Oil rose over 1 pct to top $72 a barrel on Monday, bolstered by optimism about the pace of the global economic recovery and a positive demand forecast from the International Energy Agency. [O/R] * U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the Dow hitting a closing high for 2009, as investors anticipated positive news from next week's key earnings reports and bullish broker comments boosted tech shares. [.N] * India's gold collection under exchange-traded funds rose by 15.3 percent on year to 6.765 tonnes in September, data from the funds showed, in a month when the yellow metal neared its all-time high. [GOL/IN] DATA EVENTS * The following data is expected on Monday: ECON - India industrial production for August (0630 GMT) Some markets in Japan and the United States are closed for holidays RELATED NEWS > Fed's Bullard: Don't underestimate inflation risk [nN1175958] > Barclays to sell 4 bln stg of credit assets - FT [nLB382137] > Dollar firm on yen after jump, rate view helps [nSYD503415] > UK rates to stay at 0.5 pct until 2011 -CEBR [nLB53176] > IMF sees weak Gulf Arab '09 growth, urges spending [nLB131349] > Indian PM says worst is over for economy [nSP482183] PRICES Precious metals prices at 0038 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI Spot gold $1050.50 $2.25 +0.21% +17.11% $860.10 70 Spot silver $17.80 $0.13 +0.74% +48.58% $11.29 67 Spot plat $1335.50 $3.50 +0.26% +40.73% $948.98 60 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.471 $0.157 +11.95% +11.60% Dlr/yen 89.99 -0.39 -0.43% +1.20%

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