(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 16 (Reuters) - Gold surrendered early gains
and fell on Monday after crude oil extended losses and the U.S.
dollar bounced against other currencies, reducing the metal's
safe haven appeal.
Gold <XAU=> dipped to $867.00/867.50 an ounce, down from
$869.00/870.00 an ounce late in New York on Friday.
"Basically, I think the market remains in a neutral to a
little bit bearish territory," said Ellison Chu, senior manager
at Standard Bank London in Hong Kong.
"I think at around these levels, there's going to be some
physical buying around," said Chu, who pegged support at $850.
Gold tumbled to its lowest level in almost six weeks around
$856 last week on a firmer dollar which dimned its appeal as an
alternative investment. The metal is well below a lifetime high
of $1,030.80 hit in mid-March.
"Gold's range is around $854 to $885 but technically, the
dollar looks like it could move higher, which means that gold
could be further weighed," said Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.
The dollar was steady near a four-month high against the
yen, having earlier fallen on disappointment that Group of
Eight countries had failed to address the weakness of the U.S.
currency at a weekend meeting. <USD/>
But an increase in exchange-traded fund holdings suggested
investors were shifting their money back to bullion after the
recent falls in prices, said dealers.
Gold held by New York's StreetTRACKS Gold Shares, the
largest gold ETF, rose by 7.66 tonnes on Thursday to 605.21
tonnes -- its highest level since late April. <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>.
Oil <CLc1> fell by $1 on Monday, as Saudi Arabia prepared
to push production to its highest rate in decades to help keep
pace with demand and tame what it sees as unacceptably high
prices.
In theory, weaker oil prices reduce gold's appeal as a
hedge against inflation, and there was a lack of interest from
Japanese speculators, whose purchases often push up the cash
market.
"Maybe we need to consolidate around the range of $865 to $880
to find out the next steps," said Louis Lok, a dealer at Bank
of China in Hong Kong.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $3.1 an ounce
to $870.0.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for April 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 40 yen
per gram to 6,910 yen.
Spot platinum <XPT=> dipped to $2,017.50/2,037.00 an ounce
from $2,023.50/2,043.50 late in New York.
Silver <XAG=> edged down to $16.46/16.54 an ounce from
$16.48/16.56 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=> slipped to
$445.00/450.00 an ounce from $445.50/453.50.
Precious metals prices at 0717 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 867.40 -3.40 -0.39 4.17
Spot Silver 16.47 -0.05 -0.30 11.51
Spot Platinum 2018.00 -5.50 -0.27 32.76
Spot Palladium 444.00 -1.50 -0.34 20.65
TOCOM Gold 3050.00 9.00 +0.30 -0.33
23246
TOCOM Platinum 6907.00 37.00 +0.54 29.37
16695
TOCOM Silver 581.60 -0.10 -0.02 7.50
405
TOCOM Palladium 1585.00 41.00 +2.66 17.32
4905
Euro/Dollar 1.5370
Dollar/Yen 108.46
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by )
