* Lack of fresh gold factors confines price to range
* SPDR Gold holdings steady <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday to trade around
$950 per ounce on strong oil prices, which fanned worries about
inflation, while platinum eased a touch in defiance of news of a
mine strike in South Africa.
Bullion, which has has been trading in a narrow range of
around $940-$955 this week, was down about 0.4 percent from the
end of last week.
"It is confined within ranges ... being bought on inflation
concerns and sold when there are no fresh factors," said Kazuhiko
Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Co Ltd.
Strong oil prices typically boost gold, which is widely seen
as an inflation hedge.
Saito said the dollar's weakness versus the euro was also
providing support, although gold's reaction to the currency
market during Asian business hours appeared to have dulled
somewhat this week.
Gold <XAU=> was at $949.65 per ounce at 0537 GMT, up 0.3
percent from the New York notional close of $946.75.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$951.30, up 0.4 percent.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> extended gains towards $73 a barrel on
Friday helped by a late rebound on Wall Street and a weaker
dollar. It remains close to the 10-month high of $75 touched this
week. []
The dollar remained on the defensive on Friday after being
aggressively sold off in the previous session. []
Interest in gold-backed exchange-traded funds remained
lacklustre.
The world's largest gold-backed ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust
<GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,061.83 tonnes as of Aug. 27,
unchanged from the previous business day. []
Saito said gold lacked fresh factors distinct to the metal,
which was one reason why traders were eagerly awaiting the
release of August gold import data from India, a large consumer
of the precious metal.
"Some traders are hoping this will show strong figures," he
said.
Indian gold traders were looking for bargains in the gold
market this week in anticipation of festival demand.
[]
Firm gold prices and the economic slump have caused India's
imports for the first half of the calendar year to decline 54
percent.
In other metals, the world's largest silver-backed
exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its
bullion holdings as of Aug. 27 fell 82.6 tonnes or 0.9 percent
from the previous business day to 8,742.07 tonnes. []
Platinum inched down after rising in the previous session on
news that South Africa's Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J> said it could
sack thousands of striking workers in a wage dispute that
threatened to spread further.
The world's No.2 platinum miner said it would not agree to
union demands for a 14 percent pay rise.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,235.50 per ounce, down from
$1,240.50.
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0545 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 949.60 2.85 +0.30 7.89
Spot Silver 14.36 0.12 +0.84 26.86
Spot Platinum 1235.50 -5.00 -0.40 32.56
Spot Palladium 284.50 0.50 +0.18 54.20
TOCOM Gold 2872.00 13.00 +0.45 11.62 26236
TOCOM Platinum 3741.00 22.00 +0.59 41.06 9723
TOCOM Silver 433.50 6.70 +1.57 35.77 134
TOCOM Palladium 867.00 7.00 +0.81 57.64 355
Euro/Dollar 1.4362
Dollar/Yen 93.73
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 Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)
