* Spot palladium hits 18-mth high, platinum hits 17-mth peak
* Gold pressured by firmer dollar
* Holdings by SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> steady
(Recasts, adds comments/details, changes dateline pvs TOKYO)
By Michael Taylor
LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Palladium and platinum prices hit
their highest since mid-2008 on Tuesday, boosted by investment
demand fuelled by the recent launch of exchange-traded funds in
the United States.
By contrast, gold held broadly steady but any upside
progress was restricted as the dollar strengthened against the
euro, with the single currency pressured after a survey of
German economic sentiment came in weaker than expected. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,647.50 per ounce, its
highest since August 2008, and was at $1,629.50 an ounce by 1140
GMT, against $1,612 quoted late on Monday.
Palladium <XPD=> hit a high of $461.50 an ounce, a level not
seen since July 2008. It later eased back to trade flat at
$457.50 as the dollar gained traction.
Gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,133.20 an ounce against $1,132.50
an ounce on Monday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery
<GCG0> were at $1,132.90 per ounce, up 0.2 percent.
A U.S. subsidiary of London's ETF Securities launched the
United States' first platinum and palladium-backed ETFs earlier
this month, and uptake has been healthy. []
"It's all about these new ETFs," said Stephen Briggs,
commodity strategist at RBS.
He said appetite for the funds was having a disproportionate
effect on the platinum and palladium markets, which are much
smaller in volume terms than gold.
"That is the really important thing to realise -- how really
small the platinum and palladium markets are," Briggs added.
In addition, signs the global economy is steadying and
expectations central banks may start draining ample funds from
the banking system or raising interest rates later in the year
are also prompting investors to buy the strategic platinum group
metals.
TECHNICAL UPTREND?
Platinum's rise may soon stall as the market consolidates
its overbought position, but the technical uptrend is likely to
eventually carry prices to record highs, according to analysts
who study past price moves to determine future price moves.
[]
Gold prices were steady, with a rise in the dollar capping
gains. Strength in the U.S. unit curbs gold's appeal as an
alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
"Bullion continues to underperform when compared to other
precious metals," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB
Capital. "Bullion has been gradually decoupling from the
precious metals sector."
"Gold continues to trade off the greenback," he added. "We
will be witnessing a comeback to more fundamental based trading
this year."
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,112.836 tonnes as
of Jan. 18, unchanged from the previous day. []
Holdings of the trust, the world's sixth largest holder of
gold ahead of China, Japan and Switzerland, have declined nearly
21 tonnes so far this year, compared to a rise of some 15 tonnes
in the same period of 2009. []
Meanwhile gold traders in major bullion consumer India
remained on the sidelines on Tuesday as high prices put off
buyers, dealers said.
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> prices were at
$18.61 an ounce versus $18.61 an ounce late on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi)
(Reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Veronica Brown)
