(ADVISORY-There will be no further precious metals reports
on Thursday due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Full reports
will resume on Friday when Asian markets open)
* Gold underpinned by hopes of more central bank buying
* SPDR Gold holdings inch up 0.5 pct
* Platinum rises to highest since late August, 2008
* http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/MKT_GLD$OIL1109.gif
(Updates prices and comments)
By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Gold fell over 1 percent from a
record high hit earlier on Thursday as the dollar bounced from
its lows, but the metal still eyed new peaks due to prospects
for central bank buying and further dollar weakness.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a record high of $1,194.90, but had
retreated to $1,182.40 an ounce by 1628 GMT versus its last
quote of $1,190.30 in New York late on Wednesday. It briefly
fell below $1,180 an ounce, as low as $1,179.90.
"The overall picture remains quite bullish," said Piri
Kutluoglu, MKS trader in Switzerland. "It seems we could be
hitting the $1,200 an ounce level pretty soon," he said.
Various central banks expressing their interest in buying
gold and persistent dollar weakness were the major drivers that
would boost bullion to fresh peaks, Kutluoglu said.
Bullion has risen more than 37 percent this year, including
a 13 percent rise in November alone on dollar weakness,
expectations of further reserve diversification by central banks
and fears of inflation next year.
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it had
sold 10 tonnes of gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, a part
of the 403.3 tonnes approved for sale by the fund's executive
board in September. The fund has already sold 202 tonnes to the
central banks of India and Mauritius. []
"It appears that central banks are prepared to expand their
gold reserves despite the current high gold price level, which
in turn increasingly attracts private investors back to the
market," Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank said in a
research note.
Traders said Dubai's move to restructure its biggest
corporate debtor, Dubai World, and delay some of the company's
$59 billion of liabilities had an indirect impact on gold as it
moved the dollar. []
The dollar rose further and the euro extended losses as
ratings agency Standard&Poor's put the credit ratings of four
Dubai banks on negative outlook. Against a basket of currencies,
the U.S. currency <.DXY> was up 0.91 percent. []
U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> also rose to a fresh high
of $1,195.00 per ounce. Futures were last at $1,182.20 an ounce,
compared with $1,187.00 on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Gold has soared to new highs five times in the last ten
trading sessions, and three times this week.
EVERYBODY BULLISH
Central Banks, particularly in Asia, increasingly looking to
diversify their foreign exchange reserves after India's purchase
of 200 tonnes earlier this month, are a major factor lifting the
yellow metal.
"Everybody is bullish on gold, and everybody is looking at
the signal central banks are sending," said Dick Poon, manager
of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong.
"It's not just India or China...everybody is looking at how
much money they will invest in gold," he said.
Any decision on whether India would buy more gold from the
IMF would be taken by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian finance
ministry official Anup Pujari, joint secretary for multilateral
institutions, told Reuters on Thursday. []
For a graphic of reserves held by India and China, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/IN_CHRSV1109.gif
Poon said there was a lot of physical demand despite high
prices, with Asian buyers seen in the market.
For a timeline on gold prices, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/GLD/GLD_TMLN1109.html
"Reserve diversification moves by non-G7 central banks
underscore investor detachment from U.S. dollar assets and is
clearly reflected in gold's rally," said Shuji Sugata, a manager
at Mitsubishi Corp Futures research team.
U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving
holiday. Traders said volume was not large, with many players
keeping to the sidelines due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Gold's earlier rally pulled other precious metals higher,
with platinum <XPT=> rising as high as $1,480.00 per ounce, its
highest since late August, 2008.
Silver <XAG=> was at $18.43 an ounce versus $18.82 an ounce
while palladium <XPD=> was at $366 an ounce versus $370 an ounce
on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi in Tokyo, Editing by
Veronica Brown and Sue Thomas)
((humeyra.pamuk@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
humeyra.pamuk.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 9736))
((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email
to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))
((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available
for:
* 3000 Xtra : visit
http://topnews.session.rservices.com
* BridgeStation : view story .134
* Reuters Plus : from your WebDSS screen
For more information on Top News, visit
http://topnews.reuters.com))
Reuters Terminal users can see related news and prices by
double clicking on the codes in brackets:
- All precious metals headlines []
- Precious metals market reports []
- Daily fixing headlines []
- Technical analysis []
- Indian gold reports []
- European gold prices <GOLD/EU1><GOLD/EU2><0#PREC>
- London interbank gold forward rates <GOFO> <0#GOFO=>
- London silver forwards <SIFO><SIFO=>
- Gold lease rates <LGLR><0#LGLR=>
- London Bullion Market Association <LBMA01>
- New York Comex gold <0#GC:> and silver <0#SI:>
- New York platinum <0#PL:> and palladium <0#PA:>
- Asian gold prices <GOLD/ASIA1><0#PREC>
- Australian precious metals prices <GOLD/ASIA2><0#AUPREC=>
- Shanghai Gold Exchange prices <SGE/MENU>
- Hong Kong gold exchange prices <HKGG>
- Hong Kong bullion prices <SHKG>
- Indian bullion prices <INBULL><0#PREC-IN>
- Japanese producer prices <JP/PROD1>
For Related News and other topics, double click on one of these
codes:
SPEED GUIDES
<COMMOD> <ENERGY>
<PRECIOUS/1> <PRECIOUS/2>
<REUTERS>
