* Gold below $800 for first time since December
* Silver tumbles 11 percent
(Updates prices, adds other precious metals)
SINGAPORE Aug 15 (Reuters) - Gold tumbled nearly 3 percent
on Friday and slipped below $800 for the first time since
December 2007 as investors fled precious metals, with their
confidence shattered by falling oil prices and surging U.S.
dollar.
Silver, which normally tracks gold, was the hardest hit,
falling more than 11 percent. Platinum slipped more than 2
percent and sister metal palladium 3 percent.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit an intraday low of $788.50, its
weakest since mid-December, down from $811.25/812.65 an ounce
late in New York on Thursday and well below an all time high of
$1,030.80 hit in March.
"I am not surprised to see a breakthrough of $800 now, and
I guess what's coming into play now is more technical selling
below $800," said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in
Sydney.
"We'll have some people targeting $750, but I think we
would need to see a continuation in that dollar strength to
give it sufficient momentum to head that way," he said.
Gold has lost much of this year's gains to profit taking,
oil's declines fromrecord highs and more recently the dollar's
rally against abasket of currencies which reduced the metal's
safe-haven appeal.
"I think investors are changing their views on all
commodities. Sentiment is of course very bearish," said Ronald
Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, who
"The dollar doesn't seem to be weakening anymore," said Leung,
who pegged support at $$770.
The dollar hit another six-month high against the euro
after data showed the euro zone economy contracted in the
second quarter and U.S. consumer prices rose at a faster pace
in July. []
Oil <CLc1> fell more than $1 to below $114 a barrel in amid
concerns about the slowing global economy and hopes that a
Georgia-Russia ceasefire would hold. []
The rising dollar has reduced gold's appeal as an
alternative investment while falling oil has diminished the
metal's role as a hedge against inflation.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> fell $13.30 an ounce to
$801.20.
The benchmark contract for June 2009 delivery <0#JAU:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange sank by the daily 150 yen per gram
limit to 2,813 yen per gram -- its weakest since late November.
Silver <XAG=> fell to $12.94/13.02 an ounce from
$14.15/14.21 late in New York on Thursday.
Spot platinum <XPT=> dropped to $1,448/1,468 an ounce from
$1,481/1,501 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to
$296.00/304.00 an ounce from$306.50/314.50 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0124 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 795.00 -10.60 -1.32 -4.53
Spot Silver 13.00 -1.14 -8.06 -11.98
Spot Platinum 1448.00 -33.00 -2.23 -4.74
Spot Palladium 296.00 -8.50 -2.79 -19.57
TOCOM Gold 2828.00 -135.00 -4.56 -7.58
27451
TOCOM Platinum 5115.00 -281.00 -5.21 -4.20
7193
TOCOM Silver 496.80 -40.00 -7.45 -8.17
157
TOCOM Palladium 1085.00 -82.00 -7.03 -19.69
506
Euro/Dollar 1.4766
Dollar/Yen 109.95
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 and Chikafumi Hodo in TOKYO;
Editing by Kim Coghill)
