* Gold prices fall for ninth out of 10 sessions
* Holdings of No.1 gold ETF hit near-7-year low
* Lonmin predicts 6,000 job cuts, will mothball shafts
* GRAPHIC-Asset returns: http://link.reuters.com/dub25t
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, previous MANILA)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Gold slid more than 1 percent on
Friday to its lowest since early 2010 as fresh strength in the
dollar prompted another wave of selling, putting the metal on
course for its biggest weekly loss in nine months.
Prices have been under pressure since tumbling more than 3
percent in Asian trading hours on Monday, their biggest one-day
drop in nearly two years, in a selloff accompanied by heavy
trading volumes in New York and Shanghai.
Spot gold XAU= hit a low of $1,077.00 an ounce on Friday
and was down 0.7 percent at $1,083.25 at 0930 GMT. U.S. gold
futures GCv1 for August delivery were down $11.70 an ounce at
$1,082.40.
Gold has been hurt this year by expectations that the
Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates for the
first time in nearly a decade, boosting the opportunity cost of
holding non-yielding bullion while lifting the dollar.
"It feels as though the driver in this market, aside from
the impetus we got from China, is that if you get any kind of
dollar strength, gold goes down," Natixis analyst Nic Brown
said. "But the flip side of that simply doesn't support prices."
"It's been very painful this week," he said. "Sentiment
remains negative, and the trend does very much appear to be
further down."
The dollar rose on Friday after data the previous day showed
U.S. weekly jobless claims dropping to their lowest since 1973,
while the euro fell on downbeat German and euro zone data.
ID:nL9N0WR03D FRX/
As gold prices slump, holdings of the world's biggest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), the SPDR Gold Trust
GLD , fell for a sixth day on Thursday to 684.6 tonnes, the
lowest since September 2008. GOL/ETF
The fund is on track for its biggest weekly outflow since
early May.
"Rising nominal rates and disinflation have created the most
bearish cocktail for gold in the past 43 years," Bank of America
said in a note.
"As such, we reiterate our view that gold prices are
unlikely to rally into a Fed tightening cycle and now believe
gold could dip below $1,000 an ounce by 2016."
Physical demand in Asia remained lacklustre amid modest
premiums in top gold consumers India and China. ID:nL3N1032YR
ID:nL3N10135T
Elsewhere, silver XAG= was down 0.4 percent at $14.59 an
ounce. Palladium XPT= was up 1.1 percent at $621.75 an ounce,
while platinum XPT= was down 0.2 percent at $974.25, both
holding near multi-year lows.
Platinum producer Lonmin LMI.L said on Friday it planned
to close or mothball several mine shafts, putting 6,000 South
African jobs at risk, because of depressed metal prices.
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