* Spot palladium hits 18-mth high, platinum hits 17-mth peak
* Gold's gains seen limited as euro remains under pressure
* Holdings by SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> fall 0.914 tonnes
(Updates prices, adds reference to Vicenza trade fair)
By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Platinum and palladium prices
rallied to their highest in over 17 months on Monday, on the
back of investment demand, buoyed by the launch of new
U.S.-based exchange-traded funds earlier this month.
Analysts saw further upside for both platinum and palladium
which have risen 14 percent and 28 percent respectively since
late December, with several analysts favouring palladium due to
its better fundamentals.
The rise of platinum group metals (PGM) and dollar's slight
fall against a basket of currencies lifted gold, but analysts
said fresh impetus was needed to push bullion higher as there
was little support from currency markets with the euro under
pressure. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose as high as $1,626.00 per ounce,
its highest since August 2008, and was at $1,621.50 an ounce by
1028 GMT, versus $1,596.50 an ounce late in New York on Friday.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose as high as $457.50 an ounce, its
highest since early July 2008, and up at $456.50 from Friday's
$452.50 an ounce.
"We see follow-on buying from the launch of ETFs. There's
good interest in both metals," said precious metals strategist
Tom Kendall at Mitsubishi. "For palladium $500 an ounce is a
very obvious target and wholly achievable in the 3-6 months."
Kendall said the market looked more bullish on palladium
than platinum as the former's growth profile in terms of its
uses in autocatalysts looked better than platinum.
"The extraordinary popularity of these investment vehicles
illustrates: a) consensus over the favorable fundamental outlook
for the PGMs; and b) the appetite for investment in the precious
metals space has yet to be satiated," Morgan Stanley said in a
research note.
FRESH IMPETUS NEEDED
Gold prices were up slightly but the topside was limited as
the euro remained under the pressure due to Greece's financial
problems and concerns over their potential impact on the single
currency.
Investors have also kept on the sidelines due to the closure
of New York markets on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Spot gold <XAU=> inched up to $1,136.10 per ounce compared
with $1,129.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday. U.S. gold
futures for February delivery <GCG0> were at $1,135.90 per
ounce, up 0.5 percent.
"Until we get fresh momentum based on an event or data, gold
is going to continue to struggle as long as the dollar is being
preferred versus the euro," Kendall said.
Concerns over Greece and its ballooning fiscal deficit
weighed on the single currency and market players will keep a
close eye on comments from euro zone finance ministers meeting
on Monday. []
Spot gold hit a five-week high of $1,161.50 on Jan. 11. Gold
has fallen 2.3 percent since then, as a rise in the greenback
hurt investor sentiment.
The high prices of gold has hurt Italian jewellers, who are
now turning to alternative materials such as leather, textiles
and ceramics to offset the high prices, an industry exectuive at
the Vicenza trade fair said. []
The holdings by the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, fell 0.914 tonnes
to 1,112.836 tonnes on Jan 15. []
For a graphic on the SPDR holdings, click:
http://link.reuters.com/teh24h
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda in Tokyo, Editing by Hans
Peters)
