* Failed automakers bailout plan hurts precious metals
* Gold futures up 9 pct this week as dollar drops sharply
(Recasts, updates with quotes, closing prices, adds NEW YORK
to dateline, changes byline)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Gold futures retraced
initial sharp losses but still ended lower on Friday even as
the dollar plunged against the euro, while platinum group
metals were pummeled on demand worries after the U.S. Congress
failed to pass a bill to save the auto industry.
Both platinum and palladium fell in line with other
commodities such as oil and industrial metals as the collapse
of a deal to rescue ailing U.S. carmakers knocked investors'
confidence.
The news of the failed bailout plan also sent U.S. stocks
down as much as 3 percent in early trade but the equity market
erased most of its losses to trade unchanged late.
"Even though the Dow had opened up significantly lower,
gold seems to be holding its own," said Andrew Montano, a
director at bullion dealer ScotiaMocatta.
Spot gold <XAU=> was last at $818.30 an ounce at 2:35 p.m.
EST (1935 GMT), slightly lower than Thursday's finish of
$818.35.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG9> settled down
$6.10 at $820.50 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
"We had some deleveraging this morning as everything else
was sold off," said Calyon analyst Robin Bhar. "The dollar has
stayed weak and the euro's strengthened, and gold has gone
up."
The dollar has shed more than 4.5 percent against the euro
this week, putting it on track for its biggest percentage loss
against the single European currency since it was launched in
1999.
Gold futures concluded the week more than 9 percent higher
compared with last Friday's finish of $752.20 because of a
sharply weaker dollar combined with an oil rally.
"The ultimate factor that the market has been looking at
today has been the dollar against the euro, and that has been
helping the precious metals higher all day," Montano said.
Bullion was supported after oil <CLc1> sharply cut losses
to end less than $2 down at $46.28 per barrel, after falling as
much as $4 earlier.
A closely watched gold/oil ratio, which shows the barrels
of crude oil an ounce of gold can buy, edged higher to 17.4 on
Friday from 17.2 in the previous day.
PLATINUM HURT BY DOWNTURN
Platinum and palladium had been among the assets most
affected by the rejection of the U.S. rescue plan for
carmakers, said Commerzbank trader Rory McVeigh.
Platinum fell as much as 4 percent and palladium more than
5 percent as traders worried about the outlook for demand from
carmakers, who consume about half of global supply of the two
metals each year.
Troubles in the automotive sector have already knocked
platinum and palladium down some 65 percent and 70 percent,
respectively, from this year's highs reached in March.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was last at $809.00 an ounce, down 2.1
percent from its previous finish. $826. Palladium <XPD=> was at
$168.50, which was 4.8 percent lower compared with Thursday's
late quote of $177.
Spot silver <XAG=> was at $10.20, which was 1 percent lower
than its Thursday close of $10.30.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
