* Gold steadies after hitting 1-month high on record oil
* Oil dips on profit taking
* Euro holds near 3-week high
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 27 (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $912 an
ounce on Friday after rallying to its strongest level in a
month the previous day on record oil prices and a weaker U.S.
dollar that boosted the metal's safe-haven appeal.
Gold has risen nearly 7 percent since falling to its lowest
level in nearly 6 weeks at $856.80 on June 12, with a weaker
equities markets also encouraging funds to shift some of their
money back to the precious metal.
Gold <XAU=> was at $912.30/913.20 an ounce, barely changed
from $912.60/913.60 late in New York on Thursday, when it
rallied to $917.20 an ounce -- its highest level since May 27.
Despite the gains, gold was still well below a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 an ounce hit in March. Dealers noted buying
interest from dealers in Singapore as well as light buying from
Japanese investors.
"We will try to consolidate above the $908 level. I'd
expect gold to try the main resistance around $925, provided
that oil stands at these high levels," said Louis Lok, a dealer
at Bank of China in Hong Kong.
"It may not easy for the U.S. dollar to try to fight back,"
he said.
Oil <CLc1> fell 59 cents to $139.06 a barrel on Friday,
having hit a record high of $140.39 after Libya said it was
studying possible options to cut output in responseto potential
U.S. actions against OPEC countries. []
The euro was steady at $1.5754 <EUR=> after rising to a
3-week high around $1.5770 on Thursday. The dollar had dropped
as investors reduced their expectations for a Federal Reserve
rate hike this year, and as U.S. stocks tumbled. []
In theory, rising energy prices boost gold's appeal as a
hedge against inflation, while a weaker dollar makes the metal
an attractive alternative investment.
"I think there's an increasing view that the U.S. dollar in
the near term might be in for some more weakness," said Mark
Pervan, senior commodities analyst with ANZ in Melbourne.
"I think at the moment it is sort of consolidating. It's
watching what the dollar is doing. You can sort of sense that
it could move towards $950 pretty quickly. But $930 is the next
resistance level, I think," said Pervan.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.6 to
$914.5 an ounce, having risen nearly 4 percent on Thursday.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,070.00/2,080.00 an ounce
from $2,057.50/2,077.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
rose to $465.00/473.00 an ounce from $464.00/472.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> dipped to $17.15/17.21 an ounce from
$17.22/17.28 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the
morning session 82 yen per gram higher at 7,020 yen
The contract hit an intraday high of 7,038 yen, its highest
level since June 19, reflecting a firm cash market.
Precious metals prices at 0244 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 912.00 -4.25 -0.46 9.52
Spot Silver 17.18 0.06 +0.35 16.32
Spot Platinum 2073.00 18.00 +0.88 36.38
Spot Palladium 465.00 0.50 +0.11 26.36
TOCOM Gold 3168.00 53.00 +1.70 3.53
38740
TOCOM Platinum 7020.00 82.00 +1.18 31.49
13670
TOCOM Silver 599.70 7.40 +1.25 10.85
650
TOCOM Palladium 1641.00 -6.00 -0.36 21.47
1139
Euro/Dollar 1.5735
Dollar/Yen 106.99
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
