(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Gold held on Thursday near
record highs hit the previous day and within sight of the next
target of $1,000 an ounce, as the dollar struck an all-time low
against the euro and oil stood near $105 a barrel.
Silver struck a 27-year high on speculative buying,
platinum was below an historical high, New York's COMEX futures
dipped after touching a record around $995 an ounce and Tokyo's
platinum futures hit a new peak.
Spot gold <XAU=> firmed to $986.50/987.30 an ounce from
$985.70/986.50 late in New York on Wednesday, when it rallied
to a record of $991.80 an ounce.
But it dipped from an intraday high of $989.50 on Thursday,
as a lack of follow-through buying triggered profit taking.
"The market is nervous. We don't see any physical buying,"
said Ellison Chu, senior manager at Standard Bank London in
Hong Kong.
"Some people expect it to touch $1,000 soon on gold, but
some also expect a big correction soon. It's mixed," said Chu,
referring to current market sentiment.
Gold has gained as much as 19 percent in 2008 as funds,
speculators and investors pour money into precious metals on
expectation of further interest rate cuts in the United States
and record-high oil, which lift its safe-haven appeal.
"There is psychological resistance at $1,000, but it's a
matter of time to see gold break through that level," said
Shuji Sugata, manager Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities
Ltd.
Crude oil <CLc1> held steady on Thursday at $104.42 a
barrel, after hitting a record near $105 a barrel the previous
day, aided by OPEC's decision to keep output levels unchanged
and U.S. government data showing a surprise drop in crude
inventories. []
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.1 to
$987.4 an ounce, off its record high of $995.20 hit on
Wednesday.
"It's difficult to say at this juncture if we will touch
the $1,000 mark. I guess it really depends on how long oil
prices remain above $100," said Darren Heathcote of Investec
Australia.
The dollar fell to a record low against a basket of major
currencies as weak U.S. service sector and employment data kept
alive fears of a U.S. recession.
The dollar hit an all-time low against a trade-weighted
basket of major currencies, with the dollar index falling as
low as 73.365 <.DXY>.
Silver <XAG=> hit an intraday high of $20.84 an ounce, its
best level since Oct. 1980, up from $20.61/20.66 an ounce late
in New York as a tumbling dollar spurred another round of
speculative buying.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,255/2,262 an ounce from
$2,240/2,247 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $547/552
an ounce from $552/556 an ounce.
The most active platinum contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange <0#JPL:>, currently February 2009, hit a new record at
7,427 yen per gram. It was later quoted 62 yen higher at 7,389
yen.
Precious metals prices at 0703 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 986.50 -1.60 -0.16 18.47
Spot Silver 20.81 0.07 +0.34 40.89
Spot Platinum 2255.00 15.00 +0.67 48.36
Spot Palladium 547.00 -5.00 -0.91 48.64
TOCOM Gold 3316.00 71.00 +2.19 8.37
66235
TOCOM Platinum 7386.00 59.00 +0.81 38.34
26044
TOCOM Silver 700.00 40.00 +6.06 29.39
2372
TOCOM Palladium 1920.00 -31.00 -1.59 42.12
13751
Euro/Dollar 1.5296 Dollar/Yen 103.75
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Ramthan Hussain)
