* Gold turns lower as oil eases
* U.S. consumer price index data beats forecast
* Dollar firm after U.S. economic data
(Updates with comment, prices)
By Anna Stablum
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Gold turned lower on Friday as
oil moved into negative territory and dealers shrugged off
higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data, which helped support
the dollar.
"Gold is in a consolidation period," analyst Carsten Fritsch
at Commerzbank said. "Falling oil prices reduce the inflation
risk in the medium term. The earlier rise in oil prices was just
a short-term lift with market sentiment still bearish on crude."
Gold <XAU=> eased to $820.40/821.30 an ounce by 1323 GMT from
$825.85/826.85 late in New York on Wednesday.
In theory, lower oil prices reduce gold's appeal as a hedge
against inflation. Falling oil <CLc1>, down 73 cents to $115.28
a barrel, pushed gold into negative terrain.
Earlier in the session, gold rose to an intra-day high of
$836.50, up 1.3 percent as oil prices gained.
But the metal was still well above an eight-month low of
$801.90 ounce hit on Tuesday.
U.S. consumer prices rose at twice the rate expected in July
to post the fastest rate of year-over-year growth in 17-1/2
years, pushed up by costlier energy and food, a government
report showed. []
"The figures are bullish for gold prices as higher inflation
supports prices," Commerzbank's Fritsch said.
$900
"This enforces our view that gold can pick up again and it
has the potential to reach $900 in the medium term and $1,000 in
the longer term."
Gold hit an all-time high of $1,030.80 an ounce in March,
but has lost ground due to profit-taking, a fall in oil prices,
and a rally in the dollar against a basket of currencies which
has reduced the metal's safe-haven appeal.
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
benefits fell by 10,000 last week but remained at levels that
show labour markets under severe strain. []
The euro zone economy shrank in line with expectations
quarter-on-quarter in the April-June period for the first time
since measurements for the single currency area began in 1995,
the European Union's statistics office said. []
Annual inflation in the euro zone was smaller than earlier
estimated at 4.0 percent, rather than 4.1 percent, the European
Union's statistics office said. []
The euro <EUR=> remained under pressure after the data and
the dollar index, which gauges its performance against sixmajor
currencies, gained 0.10 percent to 76.328 <.DXY> -- not far off
a six-month high reached this week. []
Silver <XAG=> tracked lower gold prices, down to
$14.27/14.33 an ounce from $14.82/14.88 late in New York.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was unchanged at $1,501.50/1,521.50
late in New York. Platinum dropped to an eight-month low at
$1,462 earlier this week.
Spot palladium <XPD=> eased to $311.50/319.50 an ounce from
$314.00/322.00 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; editing by
Christopher Johnson)
