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Bullion little changed

NEW YORK: COMEX gold was barely weaker at midday and holding to a narrow range, as the market digested the steady losses of the prior three sessions, traders said.

Grain prices were mixed and petroleum prices fell, putting light pressure on the KR-CRB commodity futures index. Traders tended to view this, however, as only a mildly negative factor for the precious metals today.

At 1300 EDT, June gold was off $0.30 at $393.20 an ounce, traded from $393.80 to $392.70.

Dealers quoted bullion at $390.70/$391.20.

Gold's open interest showed only a modest decline of 1,983 lots Tuesday to 201,839, leading some traders to suspect that Tuesday's sell-off reflected a sizable number of fresh speculative short positions as well as long liquidation.-Reuter