* Gold up 1 percent on bargain hunting, firmer euro
* Platinum rises 3 pct on technical rebound, sentiment
poor
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold gained as much as 1.3
percent on Wednesday as bargain hunters resurfaced, with a
weakening U.S. dollar against the euro also helping the metal
regain its safe-haven appeal after a sharp drop the previous
day.
While jewellers stayed on the sidelines, purchases from
investors pushed up holdings on the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, to a record
above 755 tonnes.
Platinum jumped more 3 percent to track gold, having fallen
below $1,000 for the first time in almost three years this week
on worries about falling demand for autocalysts, which account
for 60 percent of global demand.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $875.70 an ounce, up $5.75 from
New York's notional close, having hit a high of $881 an ounce.
"Gold is basically very strong. Holdings on the ETF are
also increasing. Nowadays, private investors in Japan have
re-entered the market as buyers," said Yukuji Sonoda, precious
metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo.
Gold could find resistance at $900 but a rally to $950
could also spur buying from investors, who feared the metal
could rise further to $1,000 due to its sound fundamentals, he
said.
"$950 is the most important point," he added.
Gold, which last hovered around $950 in July, was below a
record high of $1,030.80 struck in March.
It hit an intraday high of $914 on Tuesday after the U.S.
Congress rejected a $700 billion bailout plan to rescue the
economy before tumbling to $855.70 -- the biggest one day
percentage drop since August after shares reversed losses.
The dollar slipped against the euro on Wednesday a day
after the U.S. currency surged on hopes that U.S. lawmakers
could still reach agreement to revive a $700 billion bank
bailout plan to stem the credit crisis. []
"With renewed investment demand coming from gold investors
for portfolio protection, it's most likely gold will continue
its long-term upward trend in the next three years," said
William Kwan, bullion director of Gold Capital Management in
Singapore.
Gold was expected to surpass March's record high and hit
another lifetime high of $1,200 in the next six months, he
said.
The SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> said it holdings rose 4.2 percent
on Wednesday to a record 755.26 tonnes,from 724.63 tonnes as of
Sept. 30.<XAUEXT-NYS-TT>.
Gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.1 an
ounce to $881.9 an ounce.
Platinum was trading at $1,037.50 an ounce, up $37.50 from
New York's notional close. It tumbled to its weakest since
early 2006 at $982.50 on Tuesday. Platinum has been hit by
heavy selling due to poor car sales and a slowing U.S.
economy.
Precious metals prices at 0228 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 875.70 5.75 +0.66 5.16
Spot Silver 12.08 0.06 +0.50 -18.21
Spot Platinum 1037.50 37.50 +3.75 -31.74
Spot Palladium 198.50 4.00 +2.06 -46.06
TOCOM Gold 2992.00 -24.00 -0.80 -2.22
22285
TOCOM Platinum 3543.00 74.00 +2.13 -33.64
10694
TOCOM Silver 414.80 -24.10 -5.49 -23.33
658
TOCOM Palladium 693.00 7.00 +1.02 -48.70
298
Euro/Dollar 1.4095
Dollar/Yen 105.83
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
