* Gold rises for fourth straight day on oil, euro
* Oil up more than $2, lifting gold
* Nikkei climbs nearly 4 pct on bargain hunting
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a fourth
straight day on Thursday, rising 2 percent at one point, as oil
extended gains and the dollar fell against the euro, which
stirred hopes bullion could eventually regain $800 on
safe-haven buying.
Other precious metals tracked gold higher, with firmer
equities also helping prices move away from their multi-year
lows. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a
percentage point on Wednesday, sending the U.S. dollar
tumbling.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $768.45 an ounce, up $14.15 an
ounce from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it hit
an intraday high of $773.40 an ounce.
"My view is that we're likely to see the gold price
continue to move higher in the near term," said David Moore,
commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in
Sydney.
"I mean it'll probably follow a fairly uneven path but the
underlying trend is for gold to be back above $800 an ounce by
the end of this year," he said.
Gold plummeted to its weakest in 13 months at $680.80 on
Friday after investors cashed in to cover losses in stock
markets. It has steadily rebounded with the help of strong oil
prices, a recovery in equities and a firmer euro.
Gold, which traded around $800 earlier this month, was
still below a record high of $1,030.80 hit in March after a
rally to a two-month high of $931 on Oct. 10 was met by heavy
selling.
Oil <CLc1> rose more than $2 to above $69.50 barrel due to
the dollar weakness after the Fed cut interest rates, which in
theory boosts gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation. []
The euro rose against the dollar, recovering from a
2-1/2-year low hit this week, as the oil rally spurred
investors to pick up currencies battered during a rapid slide
in recent months from record highs near $150 in mid-July.
[]
"The dollar seems to be on the downside and that helps
gold. But I would say gold will still be trading in a very wide
range of $700 to $800 an ounce," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"There's not much physical buying because the price is at
the higher end now," he said.
Japan's Nikkei average climbed 3.9 percent on bargain
hunting [].
Two of the world's leading gold miners reported big drops
in quarterly earnings on Wednesday as soaring costs for fuel
and raw materials ate into margins already narrowed by a
slumping gold price. []
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $824.00 ounce, up $30.50
from New York's notional close.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $16.0 an ounce to
$770.0.
Precious metals prices at 0244 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 768.45 14.15 +1.88 -7.72
Spot Silver 10.14 0.32 +3.26 -31.35
Spot Platinum 824.00 30.50 +3.84 -45.79
Spot Palladium 197.50 3.00 +1.54 -46.33
TOCOM Gold 2438.00 102.00 +4.37 -20.33
38412
TOCOM Platinum 2634.00 150.00 +6.04 -50.66
10837
TOCOM Silver 320.40 35.10 +12.30 -40.78
909
TOCOM Palladium 656.00 71.00 +12.14 -51.44
383
Euro/Dollar 1.3263
Dollar/Yen 98.65
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)
