Gold steady after two days' gain; investors on sideline

* Longterm bullish trend intact - traders

 * Gold may rise to $1,385-$1,390 range -technicals
 * Coming up: U.S. industrial output, Jan; 1415 GMT

 (Adds details, comments; updates prices)	

 By Rujun Shen	

 SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Wednesday after two consecutive sessions of gains, as investors
stood on sidelines of a market with no clear trend for the short
term, and technical resistance is seen around $1,375.	

 Inflation concerns continued to flare up, as China reported
elevated, albeit weaker-than-expected, consumer price index data
for January, and inflation in Britain jumped to twice the Bank
of England's target in January.  	

 Rising price pressure has stoked fears that central banks
might turn increasingly hawkish on interest rates, which could
hurt sentiment in gold.	

 Spot gold was little changed at $1,373.65 an ounce by
0430 GMT. It hit a four-week high of $1,376.50 on Tuesday.	

 U.S. gold futures edged up 10 cents to $1,374.20.	

 "We are seeing inflation rise globally," said Darren
Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia, "The bullish
trend is intact, although we'll see periods of weakness."	

 Technical analysis showed that spot gold is expected to rise
into the $1,385-$1,390 range, as an uptrend has been established
while the contract climbs within a rising channel, said Reuters
market analyst Wang Tao.	

 For a 24-hrs gold technical outlook: 	

 here	

 If gold could stand firmly above the key resistance level
around $1,375, it could move towards $1,400, traders said.	

 "It's been quite a bounce, but there is some technical
resistance right around here and we've seen a bit selling to
take profit," said a Singapore-based trader.	

 "I do think the story is intact. Just right now, it's not
particularly compelling."	

 Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, slipped to 1,224.008 tonnes by
Feb 15, its lowest since May last year. 	

 The unfolding political drama in Middle East nations
continued to attract attention of global investors. The
situation, if deteriorated, could drive investors to seek
safe-haven in gold.	

 But some market players said the influence on gold market
might be insignificant.	

 For a factbox on protests in Middle East and North Africa,
click 	

 Spot palladium was steady at $834.72 an ounce, after
touching a ten-year high of $847 in the previous session.	

 Spot silver edged down 0.2 percent at $30.71. 	

 The gold-silver ratio, used to measure how many ounces of
silver is needed to buy an ounce of gold, rebounded from a
five-year low of 44.47 hit on Feb 14, to 44.72.	

 For a graphic on the ratio, click:	

 here

  	
 Precious metals prices 0430 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg Volume
  Spot Gold        1373.65    0.70   +0.05     -3.23
  Spot Silver        30.71   -0.05   -0.16     -0.49
  Spot Platinum    1832.00    4.76   +0.26      3.65
  Spot Palladium    834.72   -0.28   -0.03      4.41
  TOCOM Gold       3708.00   31.00   +0.84     -0.56     40534
  TOCOM Platinum   4983.00    8.00   +0.16      6.11     11047
  TOCOM Silver       82.70    0.70   +0.85      2.10      1341
  TOCOM Palladium  2261.00   17.00   +0.76      7.82       421
  COMEX GOLD APR1  1374.20    0.10   +0.01     -3.32      4763
  COMEX SILVER MAR1  30.71    0.01   +0.05     -0.74      3404
  Euro/Dollar       1.3525
  Dollar/Yen         83.72
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
	
 (Editing by Ed Lane)

(Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/markets-precious-idUSL3E7DG02P20110216)