(Recasts, updates prices, market activity to New York close;
adds second byline, dateline, previously LONDON)
By Frank Tang and Lewa Pardomuan
NEW YORK/LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Gold finished slightly
lower on Wednesday after rebounding from a one-week trough when
the dollar dipped against the euro and amid demand for gold
from jewelers in Asia and the Middle East.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a session low of $859.30 an ounce, its
lowest level since May 5, and was last at 865.05/866.25 by New
York's last quote at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), steady from
$866.55/867.95 late in New York on Tuesday.
Dealers said that despite recent weakness, gold was
unlikely to fall below $800 an ounce.
In other precious metals, platinum briefly dipped below
$2,000 an ounce before rebounding on bargain hunting.
"The physical activity is quite good. It's not as good as
it was a couple of weeks ago, but it's still reasonable," said
Frederic Panizzutti, metals analyst at MKS Finance, referring
to physical demand in Asia and the Middle East.
"We see, generally speaking, only little buying interest
from Europe for either physical or non-physical. We expect the
market to get back to gold and push it higher but you need to
consolidate somewhere between $850 and $950."
Gold has fallen more than 16 percent since spiking to a
lifetime high of $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17, hit by
profit-taking and the dollar's recovery.
Some analysts pegged key support around $860, which if
broken, could drag down the price to $848. The upside target
was pegged at $891 an ounce.
The dollar erased gains versus the euro after U.S. consumer
prices rose 0.2 percent in April -- less than the 0.3 percent
gain Wall Street analysts polled by Reuters were expecting
after a 0.3 percent advance in March. []
"People who are anticipating that the dollar will recover
in the near future and are liquidating gold might discover it's
premature to think that," said George Nickas, broker at FC
Stone in New York.
PHYSICAL BUYING HELPS
In the physical market in Asia, dealers noted buying from
Indonesia and Vietnam. But demand from India, the world's
largest consumer, slowed after the busy festival season.
Premiums for gold bars were steady at 80 U.S. cents an
ounce against the spot London prices in Singapore
<GOLD/ASIA1>.
The most active June gold futures contract <GCM8> on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down
$3.10 at $866.50 an ounce.
Spot platinum <XPT=> hit an intraday low of $1,997 an
ounce, but then rebounded to end at $2,031/2,046 an ounce. It
was still well below a record high of $2,290 an ounce hit on
March 4.
Palladium <XPD=> eased to $430.00/438.00 an ounce from
$430.50/438.50 in late New York on Tuesday, having earlier hit
a low of $422 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> ended lower at $16.54/16.60 an ounce from its
Tuesday finish of $16.66/16.72 in New York.
