* Gold rises on bargain hunting after Fed's decision
* Euro steady after hitting 2-week high
* Platinum up 1 pct to track gains in Tokyo futures
(Updates prices)
SINGAPORE, June 26 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Thursday as
bargain hunters resurfaced after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept
interest rates unchanged and signalled that a rate rise was not
imminent.
The dollar's fall against the euro after the Fed's rate
decision encouraged some investors to shift their money back
into gold, but jewellery makers were on the sidelines, dealers
said.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $887.35/888.35 an ounce from
$879.60/880.60 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, when it
dropped to its lowest level in a week at $873.50 due to weaker
oil prices.
"It seems there's not going to be a rise in interest rates,
so it gives some reasons to buy back. I think that's the main
issue at the moment," said Ellison Chu, senior manager at
Standard Bank London in Hong Kong.
"But it's going to be a rangebound market. $895 will be the
high side and the downside is $875," he said.
The U.S. central bank on Wednesday left the benchmark fed
funds rate unchanged at 2 percent and expressed worries about
the upside risks to inflation. But it also said it expects
price pressures to moderate this year.
The euro was steady at $1.5666 <EUR=>, having risen to a
two-week high after the Fed's statement helped cool some
expectations for a near-term rate increase. []
"There's less uncertainty in the market after the Fed
meeting. Market participants started to liquidate the dollar
and buy euro as they expect the European Central Bank to be
more hawkish," said a dealer in Singapore.
"With the dollar weakening against the euro, good buying
interest flows back into gold. For today, gold might again
retest the $900 resistance level," he said.
Gold rose to its highest level in more than a week at
$907.90 on rising oil prices last Thursday before retreating.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,025.00/2,045.00 an ounce
from $2,004.50/2,024.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
edged up to $461.00/469.50 an ounce from $460.00/468.00 an
ounce.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $7.1 an
ounce to $889.4.
Silver <XAG=> rose to $16.77/16.83 an ounce from
$16.56/16.62 an ounce.
The new benchmark contract on Tokyo platinum futures on the
Tokyo Commodity Exchange <O#JPL:>, June 2009, ended the morning
session at 6,953 yen per gram after opening at 6,906 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0300 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 887.65 4.30 +0.49 6.60
Spot Silver 16.78 0.03 +0.18 13.61
Spot Platinum 2025.50 -8.00 -0.39 33.26
Spot Palladium 461.00 -3.00 -0.65 25.27
TOCOM Gold 3116.00 -33.00 -1.05 1.83
14434
TOCOM Platinum 6953.00 -38.00 -0.54 30.23
13826
TOCOM Silver 590.70 -16.00 -2.64 9.19
491
TOCOM Palladium 1648.00 -21.00 -1.26 21.98
1393
Euro/Dollar 1.5677
Dollar/Yen 107.95
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
