(Updates with end of morning session in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Thursday,
hovering near an all-time high hit the previous day after crude
oil topped $101 a barrel, elevating the metal's appeal as a
hedge against inflation.
Platinum gained but held below historic highs, having risen
more than 40 percent in less than a month on worries about
tight supply after a power crisis disrupted mining in main
producer South Africa. Palladium hit a 6-1/2-year high and
silver was at its best level in 27 years.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $939.50/940.30 an ounce from
$934.80/935.60 an ounce late in New York. Gold jumped to an
historic high at $945.20 on Wednesday, also driven by a U.S.
government report on rising consumer prices.
"There's been a movement of investment funds from other
asset classes to commodities again, and I think gold has
benefitted from that move," said Darren Heathcote of Investec
Australia.
"On top of that as well, I think there's some technical
triggers above $932. Certainly on the day, I think the range is
going to be $932 to $946," he said.
Crude oil <CLc1> inched up to around $100 a barrel on
Thursday, keeping its strength afterhitting a record high above
$101 a day earlier amid OPEC supplyconcerns and hedge fund
buying. []
The dollar was little changed against the yen and the euro,
hit by expectations the Federal Reserve will keep slashing
interest rates to prevent the U.S. economy from suffering a
sharper downturn. []
"The momentum is back. Gold has broken out of the
consolidation phase. The potential upside is definitely $1,000
in the first quarter," said William Kwan of Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
"Most of those investors are afraid they won't be having
enough precious metals: gold, silver and platinum. So they are
buying ahead," said Kwan, who pegged the upside target for
platinum at $2,200.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,142/2,149 an ounce from
$2,120/2,130 an ounce late in New York. It rallied to a record
high at $2,160 an ounce on Tuesday.
Platinum surged this year after mines in South Africa,
which account for 80 percent of the world's supply, ground to a
halt for five days at the height of last month's power crisis.
Japanese platinum futures rose but were off record highs,
with new margin rules having no impact on speculative buying
which have driven prices up.
The most active December contract <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo
Commodity Exchange ended the morning session 223 yen per gram
higher at 7,188 yen, having fallen to as low as 6,901 yen on
Wednesday.
"I don't think an increase of margin will stop this type of
speculation. Ultimately, they are still buying," said Kwan of
Phillip Futures.
TOCOM raised margins by 50,000 yen per contract for all new
positions and existing positions for all six platinum futures
contracts from Thursday until the end of the month to cope with
rising volatility.
Palladium <XPD=> jumped to $500/505 an ounce, its highest
level in more than six years to track strong platinum prices.
The metal was last quoted at $481/484 an ounce in New York.
Silver <XAG=> hit a bid high of $17.90 an ounce, its best
level since December 1980, up from $17.76/17.81 an ounce,
reflecting firm gold.
Precious metals prices at 0253 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 939.30 -4.10 -0.43 12.80
Spot Silver 17.83 0.05 +0.28 20.72
Spot Platinum 2142.00 22.00 +1.04 40.92
Spot Palladium 500.00 19.00 +3.95 35.87
TOCOM Gold 3295.00 73.00 +2.27 7.68
52932
TOCOM Platinum 7188.00 223.00 +3.20 34.63
21028
TOCOM Silver 624.20 14.40 +2.36 15.38
1232
TOCOM Palladium 1774.00 80.00 +4.72 31.31
8392
Euro/Dollar 1.4722
Dollar/Yen 108.09
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; Editing
by Jacqueline Wong)
