* Gold steadies after hitting 1-month high on record oil
* Oil dips on profit taking
* Euro eases but holds near 3-week high
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 27 (Reuters) - Gold steadied 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 $913.00/914.00 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. Trading was choppy on
Friday, with prices hitting a high of $916.65 an ounce before
dipping to $910.10 and then steadying around $913 an ounce.
Dealers saw buying interest from dealers in Singapore and
light buying from Japanese investors, but jewellers were
sidelined.
"I think you can see a little bit of buying interest at
$910," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers
in Hong Kong, referring to demand from jewellery makers.
But gold could see profit taking later in the day, with
movements in oil likely to dictate prices, said Leung.
Oil <CLc1> fell 27 cents to $139.37 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. []
"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.
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 at the moment it is sort of consolidating," said
Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst with ANZ in Melbourne.
"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," he said.
The euro slipped to $1.5735 <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. []
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.0 to
$916.1 an ounce, having risen nearly 4 percent on Thursday.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,066.00/2,073.00 an ounce
from $2,057.50/2,077.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
rose to $466.50/475.00 an ounce from $464.00/472.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.25/17.31 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 rose 67 yen
per gram to 7,005 yen, after hitting an intraday high of 7,038
yen, its highest level since June 19.
Precious metals prices at 0657 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 913.20 -3.05 -0.33 9.67
Spot Silver 17.25 0.13 +0.76 16.79
Spot Platinum 2067.00 12.00 +0.58 35.99
Spot Palladium 467.00 2.50 +0.54 26.90
TOCOM Gold 3170.00 55.00 +1.77 3.59
65486
TOCOM Platinum 7002.00 64.00 +0.92 31.15
24152
TOCOM Silver 601.30 9.00 +1.52 11.15
996
TOCOM Palladium 1651.00 4.00 +0.24 22.21
1634
Euro/Dollar 1.5740
Dollar/Yen 106.89
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
