* Gold eases on weaker oil
* Palladium matches 2-month high, and platinum also firms
* Dollar steadies against yen and euro
(Updates prices to afternoon, adds activity in physical
market)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Wednesday,
losing some of its appeal as a hedge against inflation as oil
extended losses on expectations Saudi Arabia will soon boost
output.
Palladium matched a two-month high hit on Tuesday as
speculative buying persisted, catching up with recent gains in
other precious metals, while Tokyo platinum futures jumped to
their highest level in four weeks.
Gold <XAU=> dipped to $882.80/883.75 an ounce from
$884.20/885.40 late in New York on Tuesday, when the metal
reversed early losses and firmed on a weaker dollar.
Gold rallied to its highest level in a week at $894.70 on
Monday due to a falling dollar, but was still well below a
record high of $1,030.80 hit in mid-March.
"The market has lost direction but still focuses on oil
prices and the performance of euro," said Louis Lok, a dealer
at Bank of China in Hong Kong.
"Trendwise, there's a downside performance. Every time the
market breaks $900, it will retrace quickly," said Lok, who
expected gold to trade in a tight range of $880 to $888.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.9 an ounce
to $885.0.
The physical sector saw selling from investors in Vietnam
but other holders in Thailand and Indonesia were sidelined,
waiting for bullion to break the current range.
The dollar steadied against the yen after falling the
previous day as U.S. housing starts plunged to a 17-year low,
casting more doubt over how much the Federal Reserve might
boost interest rates in coming months. <USD/>.
Oil <CLc1> fell 62 cents to $133.39 a barrel. United
Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said over the weekend thatSaudi
Arabia was set to raise its oil output to 9.7 millionbarrels
per day in July, up 550,000 bpd from May.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,075.50/2,095.50 an ounce
from $2,052.00/2,072.00 late in New York.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $460.00/468.00 an ounce from
$456.50/464.50. It hit a high of $464 an ounce, matching the
level hit on Tuesday, its strongest since mid-April.
"Since there's no severe sell down in gold and no large
gains in the dollar, platinum and palladium are likely to
maintain their steady uptrend," said Adrian Koh, analyst with
Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"I see that palladium is approaching technical resistance
around the $466 region. So perhaps $466 may provide a bit of a
resistance or maybe some investors may take some profits after
recent gains," he said.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for April 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 59 yen
per gram to 7,085 yen. The contract hit a high of 7,106 yen --
its highest level since May 22.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.07/17.11 an ounce from
$17.05/17.13 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0529 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 881.80 -0.10 -0.01 5.90
Spot Silver 17.06 0.05 +0.29 15.50
Spot Platinum 2075.00 23.00 +1.12 36.51
Spot Palladium 460.00 3.50 +0.77 25.00
TOCOM Gold 3087.00 -19.00 -0.61 0.88
24497
TOCOM Platinum 7085.00 59.00 +0.84 32.70
23341
TOCOM Silver 599.50 -9.50 -1.56 10.81
787
TOCOM Palladium 1646.00 -4.00 -0.24 21.84
2339
Euro/Dollar 1.5481
Dollar/Yen 107.92
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
