* Gold extends gains, hits 1-week high on weak dollar
* Palladium hovers near its highest level in three months
* Dollar slips against euro and yen
(Updates prices to afternoon)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 19 (Reuters) - Gold hit its highest level
in more than a week on Thursday on a U.S. weak dollar and
overnight gains in oil, while platinum and palladium hovered
near highs after worries about supplies resurfaced.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $893.00/894.00 an ounce from
$890.75/891.95 late in New York on Wednesday, when it jumped
nearly $7 on a falling dollar and as oil firmed after a strike
threat by workers in Nigeria stoked supply concerns.
It hit a high of $895.05 an ounce on Thursday, its
strongest level since June 9. Gold was still well below a
lifetime high of $1,030.80 hit in mid-March.
"I don't expect prices to rally far," said Mark Pervan,
senior commodities analyst with ANZ. "If they are pushed
through $900, you might see a bit more of some short covering.
"The oil markets are certainly starting to top out and the
currency markets are certainly less favourable than they were,
sort of, three months ago. If we break through $850, then you
could see prices move down quickly towards $800."
The dollar fell on growing scepticism the Federal Reserve
would raise interest rates aggressively. <USD/>
Oil <CLc1> fell 67cents to $136.01 a barrel after Nigeria's
oil ministry intervened to avert a potentially crippling strike
at U.S. energygiant Chevron. <O/R>
Platinum was off intraday highs but underpinned by supply
worries after South Africa's power regulator approved an
additional 13.3 percent tariff rise for state-owned power firm
Eskom [] on Wednesday. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,083.50/2,103.50 an ounce
from $2,080.50/2,100.50 late in New York. It rallied to
$2,103.50 an ounce on Wednesday, its highest since May 28.
A power shortage in main platinum producer South Africa
sparked worries about a supply deficit and propelled prices to
an all time high of $2,290 in early March.
Palladium <XPD=> dipped to $463.00/468.00 an ounce from
$466.00/474.00. It hit a three-month high of $469 on Wednesday,
as it caught up with recent gains in other precious metals.
"It looks like people are trading on talk that palladium
stockpiles in Russia are expected to fall," said a dealer in
Hong Kong. "I don't see demand from the physical side but
speculators may push up the price to $480."
He added, "Compared with other metals, palladium has been
left behind." Russia is home to Norilsk Nickel <GMKN.MM>, the
world's largest palladium miner.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.6 an
ounce to $895.1.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.35/17.41 an ounce from
$17.33/17.43 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for April 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 5 yen
per gram lower at 7,082 yen, having hit a high of 7,143 yen --
its strongest level since May 22.
Precious metals prices at 0547 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 892.80 -0.15 -0.02 7.22
Spot Silver 17.35 0.04 +0.23 17.47
Spot Platinum 2083.50 1.00 +0.05 37.07
Spot Palladium 463.00 -3.00 -0.64 25.82
TOCOM Gold 3112.00 7.00 +0.23 1.70
29628
TOCOM Platinum 7088.00 11.00 +0.16 32.76
25242
TOCOM Silver 606.10 3.70 +0.61 12.03
556
TOCOM Palladium 1633.00 -9.00 -0.55 20.87
1621
Euro/Dollar 1.5576
Dollar/Yen 107.55
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)
