* Gold rises on bargain hunting and firmer oil
* Platinum regains strength but holds near 11-week low
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 21 (Reuters) - Gold regained ground on
Monday, as oil jumped more than $1 after talks between Iran and
world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme ended in
stalemate, boosting the metal's safe-haven appeal.
Platinum also rebounded but held near its lowest level in
more than two months on fears of falling demand. Overall
trading in precious metals was slow in the absence of Japanese
traders with the Tokyo Commodity Exchange closed for a holiday.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $960.50/961.50 an ounce from
$955.45/957.05 an ounce late in New York on Friday, when it
fell to a one-week low of $949.50 as signs of stability in
financial markets dimmed its safe-haven appeal.
"Right now, market sentiment may be cloudy. We saw high
levels last week, and we retraced very fast. Maybe we will keep
the trading range of $950 to $975," said Louis Lok, a dealer at
Bank of China in Hong Kong.
With bullion holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's
largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, already reaching a
record high above 700 tonnes <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>, there was a
possibility of a sellback, said Lok.
Oil <CLc1> rose as much as $1.18 a barrel after its biggest
one-week slide on record last week. []
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran on
Monday of making "small talk" at a nuclear meeting in Geneva
and said Tehran faced more sanctions if it flouted a deadline
to curb its nuclear programme. []
The euro was firmer at $1.5870 <EUR=> but off a record high
of $1.6038 hit last week.
"I am concerned whether the $950-$955 support will hold or
not. After we've seen the sharp declines in oil last week, it
looks technically weak and that maybe could weigh on gold's
advance," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Philip Futures.
Despite lower prices, demand from jewellers had yet to
resurface, which suggested buyers expected a further correction
following gold's steady decline since hitting a four-month high
of $987.75 last week. There was also light selling from
Indonesia.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $3.4 to
$961.4 an ounce.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,852.00/1,867.00 an ounce
from $1,846.50/1,866.50 late in New York. It struck an intraday
low of $1,836.50 on Friday, its lowest level since May 2.
Platinum, a major component in autocatalysts, has been hit
by fears of a reduction in car manufacturing because of a
slowdown in the U.S. economy.
"I think the 1,800 support is likely to hold for now, but
if it doesn't, then its very negative for platinum and we could
see more declines from then onwards," said Koh of Philip
Futures.
"We are starting to see a bit of a retracement as oil, gold
and other commodities pull back a bit. Perhaps it's also
because of a bit of a bounce in the the dollar."
Platinum has lost more than 19 percent in value since
hitting a record high of $2,290 in March, when an electricity
shortage in main producer South Africa triggered speculative
buying.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $415.00/420.00 an ounce from
$411.50/419.50 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged up to
$18.24/18.30 an ounce from $18.12/18.20 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0618 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 960.60 6.30 +0.66 15.36
Spot Silver 18.24 0.13 +0.72 23.49
Spot Platinum 1852.00 9.50 +0.52 21.84
Spot Palladium 415.00 2.00 +0.48 12.77
TOCOM Gold 3313.00 20.00 +0.61 8.27
54835
TOCOM Platinum 6301.00 -205.00 -3.15 18.02
41791
TOCOM Silver 641.20 -2.10 -0.33 18.52
846
TOCOM Palladium 1475.00 -22.00 -1.47 9.18
1501
Euro/Dollar 1.5861
Dollar/Yen 106.77
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
