* Gold hits highest in nearly a week as oil rises
* Platinum off multi-month lows
(Updates prices, adds quotes, ETF holdings)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Gold rose to its highest in
almost a week on Wednesday after gains in oil prices spurred
buying, which also helped to pluck cash platinum from its
lowest level in nearly a year.
Dealers expected consumers to buy gold on dips and said the
main buyer, India, would step up purchases ahead of a series of
religious festivals which culminate in October with Diwali, the
Hindu festival of lights.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $816.05/817.05 an ounce from
$810.70/811.90 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday and off
last week's nine-month lows around $773 an ounce. But the
yellow metal was still well below a lifetime high of $1,030.80
struck in March.
"These price levels are acceptable for jewellery makers and
private investors buying on the ETF. From now on, actual demand
will recover," said Yukuji Sonoda, precious metals analyst at
Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo.
"For the time being, $800 is the bottom price," he said.
The bullion holdings of SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, the
world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped to
their lowest level in more than a month around 651 tonnes
<XAUEXT-NYS-TT> but a recent correction in gold prices could
entice new buying.
Indian jewellers are paying gold importers more than double
last month's premiums as they scramble to meet a resurgence in
demand stoked by a steep fall in global prices and the approach
of the Diwali festive season. []
Oil prices rose about 1.5 percent on Tuesday as part of a
broad commodities rebound triggered by weakness in the U.S.
dollar. []
"The market has also been oversold in the last few days, so
I guess there's a decent short covering. I think $840 will be
some sort of resistance," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"Sentiment is bearish in platinum and I think physical
buyers just wait and see, with prices likely to move in a range
of $1,350 to $1,400," he said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,355.50/1,375.50 an ounce
from $1,344.50/1,364.50 an ounce late in New York, having
fallen to its weakest since last September around $1,296 on
Tuesday.
"Sentiment has been hit since auto makers lowered their
production forecast. The market is also concerned about growing
worries over the outlook of the global economy," said Shuji
Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities Ltd.
Platinum hit a record high of $2,290 in March after a power
shortage in main producer South Africa disrupted mining and
triggered supply worries.
It rallied as much as 50 percent in 2008, but has dropped
more than 40 percent since hitting the record peak due to
profit taking, a slowing U.S. economy and the downturn in U.S.
auto sales that has raised fears of falling demand for
autocatalysts, the major use for the metal.
New York gold futures for December <GCZ8> added $4.6 an
ounce to $821.50.
Spot palladium <XPD=> gained to $286.00/294.00 an ounce
from $280.00/288.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged up to
$13.36/13.42 an ounce from $13.15/13.21 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the morning
session 101 yen per gram higher at 2,897 yen, having fallen to
its weakest since late November in previous session.
Precious metals prices at 0328 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 815.50 2.25 +0.28 -2.07
Spot Silver 13.36 0.15 +1.14 -9.55
Spot Platinum 1356.50 7.00 +0.52 -10.76
Spot Palladium 286.00 2.50 +0.88 -22.28
TOCOM Gold 2897.00 101.00 +3.61 -5.33
23631
TOCOM Platinum 4775.00 193.00 +4.21 -10.56
12941
TOCOM Silver 475.20 24.90 +5.53 -12.16
538
TOCOM Palladium 1040.00 69.00 +7.11 -23.02
628
Euro/Dollar 1.4761
Dollar/Yen 109.88
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 Kim Coghill)
