* Gold up 2 percent, to track rising oil
* Buying from Japanese speculators boosts platinum
* Oil rises above $83 a barrel
(Adds quotes, prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Gold gained more than 2
percent on Tuesday on high oil prices and a firmer euro,
recovering from its biggest two-day decline since early 1983,
but a rally in stock markets could cap gains.
Not to be outdone, platinum surged 6 percent to a two-week
high above $1,000 an ounce, with Tokyo futures <O#JPL:> rising
sharply after traders there returned from a long weekend.
Gold <XAU=> was at $844.20 an ounce, up $13.40 from the New
York notional close, having hit an intraday high of $850.00 an
ounce. It had dropped to $821 on Monday, its weakest since Oct.
3.
"Actually, we are seeing gold demand for both physical gold
and platinum. I guess platinum is more impressive. We've been
quite busy selling platinum for investment since we reopened
today," said a dealer at a trading house in Tokyo.
"There's gold buying from retail investors but I must say
it's not that much because many people concentrate on the
rebounding stock markets," he said.
Gold, which struck a record at $1,030.80 in March, traded
around $800 in September. It hit a two-month high of $931 on
Friday on a weak dollar before tumbling to $823.50 as investors
sought cash to cover margin calls from losses in equities.
"The dollar is much lower today and I guess it's still on a
bit of a spillover weakness from yesterday," said Adriah Koh,
analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"In the near term, gold's support will probably come in
around the $820 region and a break below these levels could
bring us to the $800s and possibly the $780 supports," he said.
Oil <CLc1> rose above $83 a barrel after a concerted effort
by governments to shore up the banking sector gave hope the
current financial crisis may ease. []
The Nikkei average <> rallied more than 14 percent on
Tuesday, the biggest one-day gain in its 58-year history, which
in theory reduced gold's appeal as an alternative investment.
[]. The euro rose around 0.5 percent to $1.3664 <EUR=>.
[]
In addition to getting support from firm gold and heavy
buying from Japanese speculators after a weekend holiday, hopes
for an easing of the credit crisis and reduced fears of
recession pushed up platinum to its strongest in two weeks at
$1,040.
By 0606 GMT platinum <XPT=> was at $1,022.00 ounce, up
$43.50 from New York's notional close. The metal was well still
below a record high of $2,290 struck in March, hit by heavy
selling on fears of falling demand for autocatalysts, which
account for more than 60 percent of global demand.
"I think it really pans down to how the economy is going to
do. That will in turn affect the auto industry and affect
sentiments on platinum," said Koh of Phillip Futures.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> rose $6.0 an ounce to $848.5
an ounce on safe-haven buying.
Precious metals prices at 0606 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 844.20 13.40 +1.61 1.38
Spot Silver 10.95 0.30 +2.82 -25.86
Spot Platinum 1022.00 43.50 +4.45 -32.76
Spot Palladium 201.00 4.50 +2.29 -45.38
TOCOM Gold 2770.00 -140.00 -4.81 -9.48
42055
TOCOM Platinum 3392.00 162.00 +5.02 -36.47
15301
TOCOM Silver 360.00 -7.20 -1.96 -33.46
1292
TOCOM Palladium 685.00 44.00 +6.86 -49.30
757
Euro/Dollar 1.3683
Dollar/Yen 102.39
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)
