UPDATE 1-Gold creeps up on bargain hunting but oil weighs

                                
 (Updates prices)
                                
 SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - Gold inched up on Monday
with the help of bargain hunters, but gains may be capped by
oil's fall to below $105 a barrel, which robbed the metal of
some of its appeal as a hedge against inflation.
                                
 Gold <XAU=> edged up to $932.50/933.30 an ounce, from
$931.80/932.60 an ounce late in the U.S. market on Friday, when
it dropped more than 2 percent on falling crude oil.
                                
 Gold has lost more than 9 percent in value since spiking to
an all-time high of $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17. Record high
oil and expectations of further interest rate cuts in the
United States have propelled the gold price to a lifetime high.
                                
 Dealers awaited Friday's jobs report, in which U.S.
employers are expected to have cut payrolls for a third
straight month during March. The data offer may offer more
clues on the on the state of the economy and the outlook for
interest rates
                                
 "We can say there's some bargain hunters at $930 and below.
It attracts some buying interest. There seems to be a little
bit physical buying at the low," said Ronald Leung, director of
Lee Cheong in Hong Kong.
                                
 "I think the upside is $935. I don't expect much activity,"
said Leung, who pegged support at $925 an ounce.
                                
 Oil <CLc1> fell more than $1 after the restart of a crude
pipeline system in Iraq eased fears of an extended exports
disruption from the country's oil-rich south. [ID:nSYD295760]
                                
 Gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.0 an ounce to
$937.2 an ounce, having fallen 1.83 percent at the close on
Friday.
                                
 In currencies, the dollar firmed to 99.60 yen <JPY=> after
falling as low as 98.80 yen earlier in the session on
electronic trading platform EBS. The euro inched down to
$1.5770 <EUR=>.
                                
 Demand from Japanese investors lifted the dollar but the
U.S. currency was likely to be under pressure with Japanese
exporters and institutional investors expected to repatriate
funds with Japan's fiscal year winding up this session.
                                
 Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,012/2,022 an ounce from
$2,000/2,010 an ounce. It jumped to its highest in more than a
week at $2,040 on Friday on speculative buying as supply fears
lingered after a power crisis disrupted mining in South Africa.
                                
 The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> ended the
morning session 32 yen per gram lower at 6,358 yen.
                                
 Silver <XAG=> eased to $17.86/17.91 an ounce from
$17.88/17.93 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $439/444
an ounce from $441/445.
 Precious metals prices at 0217 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold         932.50    2.50   +0.27     11.99
 Spot Silver        17.86   -0.02   -0.11     20.92
 Spot Platinum    2012.00   12.00   +0.60     32.37
 Spot Palladium    439.00   -2.00   -0.45     19.29
 TOCOM Gold       3018.00  -34.00   -1.11     -1.37       
24427
 TOCOM Platinum   6358.00  -32.00   -0.50     19.09        
6991
 TOCOM Silver      578.50  -10.80   -1.83      6.93         
508
 TOCOM Palladium  1452.00   -3.00   -0.21      7.48        
1319
 Euro/Dollar       1.5795
 Dollar/Yen         99.83
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ben Tan)