* Gold gives up early gains, holding near 8-month lows
* Platinum rebounds from eight-month lows
(Updates prices to afternoon)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Gold was within sight of its
lowest level in eight months on Wednesday, barely reacting to a
slight drop in the U.S. dollar as investors reassessed their
positions after bullion dropped more than 7 percent this week.
Investors' confidence in gold has been shattered by a
recent rally in the dollar amid growing fears that economies
elsewhere may slow at a faster pace than in the United States.
Oil's falls from record highs also diminished gold's safe-haven
appeal.
Gold <XAU=> eased to $813.85/815.05 an ounce from
$814.50/815.50 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday, when it
tumbled to $801.90 ounce -- its lowest level since late
December as investors ditched bullion as the dollar surged.
Gold was well below a record high of $1,030.80 hit in
March.
"I think for the time being, the funds will continue try to
test the $800 level to see whether it can be supported or not,"
said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus Ltd in
Hong Kong.
"There's not much physical buying. Customers are still
looking for the lower price right now. Speculators and funds
continue to liquidate their long positions," he said.
Charts showed gold was in oversold territory. Gold's 14-day
relative strength indicator (RSI) stood at 11.42 on Tuesday,
down from 20.83 last week. The market views an RSI of 30 or
less as oversold and 70 or more as overbought.
The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the U.S. currency
against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.07 percent to
76.077, easing from a six-month high of 76.616 hit this week.
Silver and palladium also shed early gains. Platinum
advanced in a technical rebound but there were no signs of
buying from automakers, with most Japanese car plants closed
for summer holidays.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,496.00/1,516.00 an ounce
from $1,469.50/1,489.50 late in New York, off Tuesday's
eight-month low at $1,462 an ounce. It briefly regained $1,500
on Wednesday in a technical rebound on early buying in Tokyo
futures.
"Below $1,500 is a very attractive price level for
automobile companies. They will soon enter the market but at
this moment, it's the summer holiday in Japan," said Yukuji
Sonoda, precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in
Tokyo.
"The platinum price has already reached its bottom but
there are no buyers in the market," he said.
Platinum hit a lifetime high $2,290 in early March after a
power shortage in main producerSouth Africa disrupted mining
and sparked supply worries.Profit taking and worries about
falling demand for autocatalysts have erased all of this year's
gains. Autocatalysts account for more than 60 percent of global
platinum use.
Some dealers in Japan said a trading house bought back
contracts in Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:>, which sank by the
daily limit on Tuesday.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $312/317 an ounce from
$305.00/313.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged down to
$14.58/14.66 an ounce from $14.60/14.66 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 56 yen per gram
to 2,866 yen.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $5.6 an ounce to
$820.2.
Precious metals prices at 0458 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 814.05 3.40 +0.42 -2.24
Spot Silver 14.58 0.12 +0.83 -1.29
Spot Platinum 1496.00 26.50 +1.80 -1.58
Spot Palladium 312.00 6.00 +1.96 -15.22
TOCOM Gold 2865.00 -57.00 -1.95 -6.37
65066
TOCOM Platinum 5233.00 16.00 +0.31 -1.99
16323
TOCOM Silver 514.50 0.80 +0.16 -4.90
1030
TOCOM Palladium 1118.00 0.00 +0.00 -17.25
554
Euro/Dollar 1.4922
Dollar/Yen 108.80
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
