* Gold below four-month high as speculators book profits
* Oil steadies around $139 a barrel
* Cash and Tokyo platinum futures fall on fears of falling
demand
(Updates prices)
SINGAPORE, July 16 (Reuters) - Gold dropped on Wednesday as
speculators booked profits after the metal rose to a four-month
high near $900 an ounce the previous day, while platinum fell
nearly 2 percent on fears of weakening demand for
autocatalysts.
Jittery stock markets, worried about the future of U.S.
mortgage lenders Fannie Mae <FNM.N> and Freddie Mac <FRE.N>,
record-high oil, Middle East tensions and a volatile dollar,
have pushed up gold prices to a level not seen since March.
Gold <XAU=> fell to $971.25/972.10 an ounce from
$975.90/977.90 an ounce late in New York. Gold rose to $987.75
an on Tuesday, its highest level since March 19, before a drop
in oil and declines in other commodities erased some of the
gains.
Gold struck a lifetime high of $1,030.80 also in March.
"There's profit-taking in gold. Resistance lies ahead at
$990," said Kazuhiko Saito, commodity strategist at Interes
Capital Management in Tokyo.
Oil <CLc1> was little changed around $139 a barrel on
Wednesday ahead of U.S. government inventory data, after
tumbling more than $6 on growing concern over the United
Stateseconomy stirred demand worries.[]
The euro dipped to $1.5907 <EUR=>.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,937.00/1,957.00 an ounce
from $1,971.00/1,991.00 late in New York after fears falling
demand resurfaced as the U.S. economy fades.
"After seeing sharp falls in stock prices, investors are
becoming increasingly concerned about the outlook for the
economy, which is leading to the selling of platinum," said
Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo.
"Falling car sales in the United States due to high oil
prices are another key factor hurting sentiment," he said.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 275 yen
per gram to 6,440 yen -- well below a record high of 7,427 yen
hit in March.
News that Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and General Motors
Corp <GM.N> expected declines in sales weighed on platinum,
which is a major component in autocatalysts, said Saito of
Interes Capital Management.
"Platinum demand will decrease. I think the New York spot
price will reach $1,900 tonight. There's panic," he said.
General Motors on Tuesday announced a plan to cut costs by
$10 billion, suspend its common stock dividend and sell up to
$4 billion in assets in a bid to shore up cash and survive a
deep industry slump. []
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $6.2 an ounce
to $972.4.
Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $436.50/444.50 an ounce from
$440.00/448.00 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged down to
$18.83/18.90 an ounce from $18.86/18.93 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0147 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 971.50 -5.10 -0.52 16.67
Spot Silver 18.79 -0.09 -0.48 27.22
Spot Platinum 1933.50 -35.50 -1.80 27.20
Spot Palladium 436.50 -3.50 -0.80 18.61
TOCOM Gold 3303.00 -33.00 -0.99 7.94
26516
TOCOM Platinum 6424.00 -291.00 -4.33 20.32
22430
TOCOM Silver 639.30 -17.30 -2.63 18.17
796
TOCOM Palladium 1499.00 -51.00 -3.29 10.95
1529
Euro/Dollar 1.5913
Dollar/Yen 104.81
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo)
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
