(Updates prices to afternoon, activity in physical side)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Gold rose to its highest
level in almost two weeks on Monday, moving back above $900 as
speculative buying picked up after oil hit a record high,
lifting the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation.
Platinum also jumped to its highest in nearly two weeks on
worries about supplies in main producer South Africa. Palladium
was firmer, while silver struggled to sustain early gains.
Gold <XAU=> rose as high as $904.10 an ounce, its highest
level since May 28, up from $896.80/898.20 late in New York on
Friday and off a three-week low of $864.45 on Thursday.
"It looks like we could head higher. Gold remains on a
steady 1-month uptrend. Thursday's reversal off the supports
indicated that we could see higher gold prices," said Adrian
Koh, an analyst at Philip Futures in Singapore. "Nearby uptrend
support will probably be around $880."
Oil <CLc1> fell 82 cents to $137.72 a barrel on Monday,
having hit a record $139.12 on Friday amid frenetic buying
triggered by a tumbling dollar and comments by an Israeli
minister about a possible attack on Iran. <O/R>.
A weaker dollar helped gold as it boosted the metal's
appeal as an alternative investment to stocks and bonds. The
euro was barely changed at $1.5770 <EUR=> after edging up to
$1.5800 on trading platform EBS.
Record high oil and uncertainties in the dollar outlook
pushed up gold to a record high of $1,030.80 in mid-March.
"I'm more concerned about the dollar and the euro as we
seem to be nearing key technical regions. So a move over those
levels could just spark another rally in gold," said Philip's
Koh.
Gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $5.1 an ounce to
$904.1.
The physical sector was slow, with a market holiday in Hong
Kong. In Southeast Asia, dealers noted buying from Indonesia,
Thailand and Vietnam on inflation fears, but firmer prices also
triggered selling.
"It's more like a two-way business. It looks like people
are a bit cautious, although more gains in oil are likely to
push prices much higher," said a dealer in Singapore.
Premiums for gold bars were steady at 60-70 U.S. cents per
pound in Singapore <GOLD/ASIA1>.
The most active platinum contract for April 2009 delivery
<0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 117 per gram to
6,917 yen.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,071.50/2,091.50 an ounce
from $2,064.00/2,084.00, having earlier hit a high of $2,080 --
its best since May 28.
Mines in South Africa, including the world's biggest
platinum and key gold mines, were forced to halt output for
five days in January due to electricity shortages and are still
not receiving full power.
The power shortage sparked worries about a supply deficit
in 2008 and propelled platinum prices to an all time high of
$2,290 an ounce in early March 4.
Silver <XAG=> was unchanged at $17.51/17.57. Palladium
<XPD=> rose to $431.00/441.00 an ounce from $429.00/437.00.
Precious metals prices at 0414 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 900.90 -0.45 -0.05 8.19
Spot Silver 17.52 0.04 +0.23 18.62
Spot Platinum 2073.00 6.50 +0.31 36.38
Spot Palladium 431.00 3.00 +0.70 17.12
TOCOM Gold 3074.00 46.00 +1.52 0.46
24274
TOCOM Platinum 6926.00 126.00 +1.85 29.72
16873
TOCOM Silver 598.20 4.90 +0.83 10.57
493
TOCOM Palladium 1503.00 8.00 +0.54 11.25
676
Euro/Dollar 1.5788
Dollar/Yen 105.27
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
