(Updates prices)
* Gold near highest since April
* ETP holdings hit record highs; options show investors
bullish
* Platinum near highest since early May on Lonmin stoppage
* Coming up: U.S. August consumer confidence; 1400 GMT
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Gold steadied around its highest
in four months on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of central bankers
at the weekend that could outline the likely course of U.S.
monetary policy, while a stoppage at a major mine kept platinum
near 3-1/2 month highs.
So far in August, gold has gained 3.1 percent, putting it on
course for its third successive monthly increase and the largest
percentage rise in one month since January, fuelled in large
part by an expectation for the U.S. Federal Reserve and the
European Central Bank to take extra steps to keep borrowing
costs low.
Central bankers and finance ministers from around the world
are scheduled to meet at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Aug. 31 and
Sept. 1, and investors expect speeches by Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke to signal what measures the central bank might take and
specifically, whether it will buy bonds to grease the wheels of
the financial system by suppressing interest rates.
Continued…
