* Gold slips from near two-week high
* Silver drops 3 pct after four-day rally
* Coming up: Minutes of Fed's Sept 16-17 meet at 1800 GMT
(Updates prices)
By A. Ananthalakshmi
SINGAPORE, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Gold fell from near two-week
highs and silver slumped 3 percent on Thursday, as Chinese
investors sold the precious metals to take profits on return
from a week-long holiday.
Spot gold XAU= eased 0.3 percent to $1,142 an ounce by
0635 GMT. The metal had climbed to $1,153.30 in the previous
session, its highest since Sept. 24, before closing 0.1 percent
lower as the dollar gained.
Silver XAG= fell as much as 3.2 percent before recovering
slightly to trade down 2.7 percent at $15.63. Before Thursday,
silver had rallied for four days, hitting a 3-1/2-month high
earlier this week.
Gold gained $30 an ounce during China's holiday between Oct.
1 and Oct. 7, while silver gained about $1.50 in the same
period, as the dollar weakened on sluggish U.S. economic data.
"There is some profit-taking from the Chinese as both the
metals moved considerably higher when they were away," said a
bullion trader in Sydney.
Platinum XPT= and palladium XPD= also fell.
Gold's losses were capped by views that the Federal Reserve
would delay the first rate hike in nearly a decade until 2016,
and the trader said he was bullish about prices in the near
term.
"After the weak nonfarm payrolls report last week,
expectations for a U.S. rate hike have been pushed to early next
year. So the market does look good for now," he said.
The U.S. central bank opted not to hike rates in September
in the wake of cooling global growth and fears of a deepening
slowdown in China.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said a rate hike would come this
year, but a recent string of weak U.S. economic data has
prompted the market to push back expectations.
The minutes from the Fed's last meeting in September will be
released later on Thursday, with markets watching out for U.S.
central bank officials' views on the global economy and the
impact on U.S. monetary policy.
A delayed rate rise could support gold in the near term. The
metal had earlier come under pressure from expectations that the
Fed may raise interest rates this year, potentially lifting the
opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Elsewhere, SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.26 percent to
687.20 tonnes on Wednesday.
PRICES AT 0635 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1142 -3 -0.26
Spot silver 15.63 -0.44 -2.74
Spot platinum 933.1 -7.65 -0.81
Spot palladium 687.05 -9.95 -1.43
Comex gold 1141.9 -6.8 -0.59
Comex silver 15.62 -0.474 -2.95
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months