UPDATE 5-Gold off highs as dollar bounces from 1-mth low

                                
 * Gold slips from highs as dollar bounces from one-month low
                                
 * Near-record oil continues to support precious metals
                                
 * ETF buying firm in week to June 29
                                
 
                                
 (Recasts, updates prices, adds comment)
                                
 By Jan Harvey
                                
 LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Gold slipped from the five-week
high it hit earlier in Monday's session, as the dollar bounced
back from a one-month low against a basket of currencies.
                                
 Firm oil prices, which are holding near the record highs
they touched this morning, are continuing to support buying of
the precious metal as an inflation hedge, however.
                                
 Gold <XAU=> was at $928.10/929.10 an ounce at 1343 GMT, up
from $927.20/928.20 an ounce late in New York on Friday. Earlier
it touched a session high of $934.55 an ounce, its firmest level
since May 22.
                                
 "The dollar has come back, (and) gold has made good gains in
the last couple of days, so we would expect to see it lightening
up a tad," said BNP Paribas analyst David Thurtell.
                                
 The dollar, which wilted last week after the U.S. Federal
Reserve adopted a less hawkish tone than expected on interest
rates, slid to a one-month low on Monday, battered by weak
equities, strong oil and weak U.S. consumer confidence. 
                                
 However, it later bounced back to trade 0.2 percent higher
against the euro on the day, supported by month- and quarter-end
position squaring, traders said. [ID:nL30279320]
                                
 A firmer dollar tends to pressure gold, which is often
bought as a hedge against weakness in the U.S. currency. A
stronger greenback also makes dollar-priced commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
                                
 The other main external driver of gold, oil, is still
underpinning the precious metal. Crude hit a new record of
$143.67 a barrel on rising tension between Iran and Israel.
[ID:nSYD57653]
                                
 Rising crude prices boost gold's appeal as a hedge against
oil-led inflation, as well as fuelling investment interest in
commodities in general.
                                
 The stock market slide of late last week is also benefiting
commodities as an asset class as traders seek alternative
investments, analysts said.
                                
 "Equities doing so badly over the last week has been good
for commodities in general, and in terms of credit, default
spreads have been rising," said Standard Bank analyst Walter de
Wet. "That supports gold."                                
                                
 Investment interest in gold was firm last week, with inflows
into exchange-traded funds rising.
                                
 SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the world's largest bullion-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its gold holdings rose by 2.5 percent
on Friday, and were up 4.5 percent week-on-week. [ID:nL30340198]
                                
 SPDR, which launched a new listing on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange on Monday, now holds 644.16 tonnes of gold.
                                
 London-based ETF Securities meanwhile said its gold holdings
reached a record high of 1.266 million ounces on Sunday, up 6
percent from the previous week. [ID:nL30620459]
                                
 "ETF-related buying has certainly picked up, after a slow
period for the last 1-2 months," noted JP Morgan analyst Michael
Jansen.
                                
 In supply news, South Africa's Gold Fields <GFIJ.J>, the
world's fourth largest gold miner, said it had lost 70 kg of
production due to the closure of its Kloof mine for two days
last week. [ID:nJAT003728]
                                
 The miner shut its No. 4 shaft after an earth tremor killed
two miners at the pit on Thursday. Blasting at the entire mine
was also halted on Friday.
                                
 Gold Fields chief executive Nick Holland told Reuters he
sees the price of gold rising to $1,200 an ounce by June next
year, but added production costs were rising. [ID:nWEA0620]
                                
 Among other precious metals, spot platinum <XPT=> rose to
$2,057.00/2,077.00 an ounce from $2,053.50/2,073.50 late in New
York.
                                
 Lonmin PLC <LMI.L>, the world's third largest platinum
producer, said it has closed down one of its furnaces for a week
due to a leak in one of its coolers. [ID:nL3027737]
                                
 While the company has said it is still assessing the impact
of the closure on production, Fairfax IS analyst John Meyer said
the outage was helping support platinum prices.
                                
 Spot palladium <XPD=> was little changed at $463.50/471.50
an ounce from $463.00/471.00 an ounce. Speculators have booked
profits after the price jumped to a three-month high of $477 on
June 19.
                                
 Silver <XAG=> was steady at $17.55/17.61 an ounce from
$17.52/17.61 late in New York. The largest silver ETF listed in
New York, the iShares Silver Trust <SLV.A>, said its holdings
edged up to 6,002.41 tonnes on June 26 from 5,971.63 tonnes. 
 (Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Peter Blackburn)