Gold edges down as oil rally comes to halt

TOKYO, May 13 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Tuesday,
weighed down as a halt in crude oil's climb dented its appeal as
a hedge against inflation.

* Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $883.50/884.20 an ounce as of
0130 GMT, compared with $884.60/886.00 late on Monday in New
York.

* A lack of direction in the foreign exchange market kept
most investors from trading gold actively.

* The dollar steadied against the yen as investors eyed stock
markets to see if they could continue buying risk assets, while
awaiting U.S. data and comments from several Federal Reserve
officials later in the day. [FRX/]

* U.S. crude oil futures fell below $124 per barrel,
extending losses from New York trade as active profit-taking
kicked in following surges to record highs in the past week.

* NYMEX crude for June delivery CLc1 fell 32 cents to
$123.91 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. It had reached a
fresh intraday record high of $126.40 on Monday.

* Most active June gold futures contract GCM8 on COMEX
division of New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.3 to $883.6 an
ounce.

* Yen-based gold futures for distant April delivery <0#JAU:>
on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 16 yen a gram to 2,975 yen,
helped by a fall in the yen versus the dollar.

* Spot platinum <XPT=> stood at $2,089.50/2,099.50 an ounce,
down from $2,099/2,119 in New York. It last week reached $2,095,
the highest since March 17.

* Palladium <XPD=> was at $437.00/445.00 an ounce, just up
from $436/444 in late New York. Silver <XAG=> was at $17.17/17.23
an ounce against $17.12/17.18 in New York.
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Hugh Lawson)