* Gold up on bargain hunting, still below 4-month low
* Platinum off 2-month low
* Oil steadies around $134 a barrel
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Thursday
after falling more than 1 percent in New York on a drop in oil
prices, while bargain hunters also plucked platinum from its
lowest level in more than two months.
Gold hovered below a four-month high, while platinum
suffered from fears of falling demand for autocatalysts as the
U.S. economy weakens and on news Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and
General Motors Corp<GM.N> expected declines in sales.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $964.60/965.60 an ounce from
$963.10/964.19 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, with a
rebound in oil offering additional support.
"For the time being, gold probably remains very volatile
but is still supported at higher levels," said David Moore,
analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
"I think gold in recent weeks has got significant support
from the higher oil price, U.S. dollar fragility and the
uncertain outlook for returns from other assets," he said.
Gold, which hit a four-month high of $987.75 an ounce on
Tuesday, has seen a wave of safe-haven buying from investors on
record high oil, weak stock markets and concerns over the
outlook for the U.S. financial system.
The metal struck a lifetime peak of $1,030.80 in March.
"I think gold's support is still going to be around the
$955 region, so perhaps we will see a bit of bargain hunting
there," said a dealer in Singapore, adding that movements in
oil and the dollar would set the tone for gold.
"Platinum does look a bit weaker compared with gold. From a
technical point of view, the failure to move above the previous
$2,050 level shows the market is a bit bearish," he said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,935.00/1,945.50 an ounce
from $1,919.00/1,939.00 late in New York, having hit an
intraday low of $1,913.50 an ounce, its lowest level since
early May.
Platinum has lost nearly 16 percent in value since striking
a record high of $2,290 an ounce in March.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the
morning session 15 yen per gram higher at 6,430 yen, having
fallen by the 300 yen daily limit on Wednesday.
Oil <CLc1> was up 25 cents at $134.85 after settling nearly 3
percent lower on Wednesday, when a U.S. government report
showed a surpriseincrease in inventories. []
The euro edged up to $1.5830 <EUR=> from $1.5825 but has
pulled back from a record peak of $1.6040 struck on trading
platform EBS earlier in the week. []
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $2.9 an
ounce to $965.6.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $430.00/435.00 an ounce from
$425.00/433.00 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged up to
$18.78/18.84 an ounce from $18.71/18.80 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0226 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 963.80 4.70 +0.49 15.74
Spot Silver 18.82 0.09 +0.48 27.42
Spot Platinum 1928.50 12.50 +0.65 26.88
Spot Palladium 430.00 4.00 +0.94 16.85
TOCOM Gold 3281.00 -3.00 -0.09 7.22
24111
TOCOM Platinum 6430.00 15.00 +0.23 20.43
13275
TOCOM Silver 641.10 4.80 +0.75 18.50
448
TOCOM Palladium 1490.00 1.00 +0.07 10.29
653
Euro/Dollar 1.5843
Dollar/Yen 104.89
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
