*Gold falls to one-month low, as oil slide weighs
*Platinum hits 12-1/2-month low, palladium near 3-year low
*Oil loses nearly 4 percent as Hurricane Ike's path shifts
(Updates prices, refreshes throughout)
By Carole Vaporean and Humeyra Pamuk
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Gold fell sharply,
losing 3 percent on Tuesday, as investors continued to take
money out of commodities following a broad rally in the U.S.
dollar.
The sell-off spilled over into other precious metals, with
silver and platinum dropping to their lowest in a year, while
palladium was battered to its weakest in nearly three years.
Gold <XAU=> stayed below the psychologically potent $800
level to trade at $775.80/777.80 an ounce in late New York
business, down from the late Monday quote of $802.25/803.60.
Spot gold fell to $775.75 an ounce, its weakest in a
month.
December gold <GCZ8> finished $10.50, or 1.31 percent,
lower at $792.0 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Prices closed in on their low of the year at $773.90 hit on
Aug 15, well below an all-time high of $1,030.80 struck in
March.
"The dollar rose from around 1.4300 to around 1.4100
(against the euro) yesterday and is definitely not bullish for
gold," said analyst Michael Widmer at Lehman Brothers.
The dollar rose versus the euro early on Tuesday, putting
pressure on gold prices. But later, the dollar reversed course,
underpinning gold's losses.
The U.S. dollar fell as Lehman Brothers shares plunged on
worries over the investment bank's ability to raise capital and
shifting the spotlight to the fragile financial sector. []
Physical buying had supported the gold market around $790
an ounce recently, but was overwhelmed on Tuesday as selling
picked up pace.
"The sentiment is that it's going lower and that you can
buy it cheaper tomorrow. It looks very ugly at the moment," a
senior trader said.
FALLING OUT OF FAVOUR
Oil prices, also under pressure, weighed on gold prices.
U.S. crude oil futures fell more than $4 per barrel on
expectations that OPEC will keep output targets steady and as
Hurricane Ike was forecast to veer away from the majority of
oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. []
John Reade, analyst with UBS Investment Bank, said in a
research note that commodities may be falling out of flavour
with investors for cyclical reasons.
"Real money investors are showing a clear preference for
the U.S. dollar," he said.
Traders said that last week's news of the closure of
Ospraie Management LLC's flagship hedge fund, after it plunged
27 percent in August following losses in energy, mining and
natural resources equity holdings, had also knocked investor
sentiment in the asset class.
"Wobbly speculators are liquidating," one said.
Analysts said the slump in oil and metals prices of the
last six weeks due to softening demand for raw materials may
intensify if the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave
investors more confidence in the U.S. currency and stock
markets. []
Platinum, like silver and palladium, was sold as investors
saw its use as an industrial component diminished in the face
of global economic slowing, analysts said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> changed hands late on Tuesday at
$1,236.00/1,256.50 an ounce, near a 12-1/2-month low at
$1,235.50 an ounce, its lowest since the end of August 2007.
Platinum group metals have been very badly affected by
fears of a drop off in demand from car manufacturers.
"Demand is very bad. Automakers are not buying," said
Kazuhiko Saito of Interes Capital Management in Tokyo, adding
that cash platinum may trade below $1,200 by end-September,
referring to a level last seen in March 2007.
Autocatalysts, used to clean exhaust fumes, account for
more than 50 percent of global demand. China's passenger car
sales fell in August from a year earlier, the first monthly
decline in more than two years as a slowing economy and the
Beijing Olympics kept would-be car buyers from showrooms.
[]
Spot palladium <XPD=> was down at $234.00/242.00 an ounce
in late Tuesday dealings, but up slightly from the November
2005 low at $266.0 an ounce.
Spot silver <XAG=> slid below the key $12 psychological
level to a one-year low at $11.31 an ounce. In late New York
dealings it traded sharply lower at $11.39/11.47 an ounce,
compared with $12.47/12.54 an ounce late on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Carole Vaporean in New York, Lewa
Pardomuan; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
