(Updates prices, adds physical activity in Thailand)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 21 (Reuters) - Gold dipped on Friday in
trade thinned by holidays in key bullion centres in Asia but
the metal held above a 1-month low hit the previous day, with
dealers expecting bargain hunters to resurface at lower levels.
Gold <XAU=> eased to $918.10/918.90 an ounce from
$920.30/921.10 ounce late in New York but off a 1-month low at
$904.65 struck on Thursday when funds cashed in bullion to
cover losses in other financial markets.
"It isn't clear whether this is a dead cat bounce or fresh
buying signals. If $903 holds, sharp gains are possible in the
coming sessions and we could even see levels beyond $970," said
Pradeep Unni, analyst at Vision Commodities in Dubai.
Gold has lost around 10 percent in value since racing to an
historical high of $1,030.80 an ounce on Monday. Markets in
Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and India are closed for Good
Friday.
But in Thailand, one of Southeast Asia's main consumers,
the physical market was abuzz with activity as investors took
advantage of the price falls, hoping for better returns in the
future as domestic interest rates were seen falling soon.
"There have been so many buyers in the past couple of days.
I never saw something like this before," Jiti Tangsitpakdi,
head of Thai Gold Traders Association, told Business Radio.
"Our production can't catch up with the demand. Prices have
come down a bit today and we already see buyers queuing up
before the shops opened," said Jiti, referring to more than 100
gold shops around Bangkok's Chinatown and gold-trading centre.
Precious metals, oil, grains and agricultural products have
tumbled this week in a wave of selling as funds cashed out,
taking profits at record high prices.
But dealers said the long-term outlook for gold remained
bright because of strong investor interest in the metal used as
a hedge against inflation and expectations of more interest
rate cuts in the United States in April.
"Gold and other metals could fall further as the market has
surged too rapidly. But falls in gold could be limited around
$850 where demand for physicalgold could start growing," said
Hisaaki Tasaka, market analyst at Ace Koeki in Tokyo.
The dollar was steady against the euro in holiday-thinned
trade on Friday, holding gains made the previous day when
investors sold commodities such as oil and gold and bought back
the U.S. currency. []
"The situation is quite unchanged. As for gold, ETF buying
is very strong and it is a good support," said Yukuji Sonoda,
precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo.
Gold held by New York-listed StreetTRACKS Gold Shares
<GLD.P> <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>, the world's largest gold-backed ETF,
hit a record high of 663.83 tonnes this week.
"Supply in South Africa is not so good and demand from the
automobile sector is strong," said Sonoda, referring to
fundamentals in platinum.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,850/1,860 an ounce from
$1,855/1,875 an ounce. It struck a record at $2,290 an ounce on
March 4 on fund buying after a powercrisis disrupted mining in
main producer South Africa.
The global platinum market is likely to witness a huge
deficit this year and in 2009 as apower crisis in top producer
South Africa hits output, whileindustrial demand remains
strong, a Reuters survey showed. []
Precious metals prices at 0403 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 917.60 8.00 +0.88 10.20
Spot Silver 17.02 0.25 +1.49 15.23
Spot Platinum 1850.00 -5.00 -0.27 21.71
Spot Palladium 431.00 -7.00 -1.60 17.12
TOCOM Gold 3017.00 -150.00 -4.74 -1.41
3427
TOCOM Platinum 5745.00 -300.00 -4.96 7.60
1598
TOCOM Silver 595.60 -40.00 -6.29 10.09
111
TOCOM Palladium 1417.00 -100.00 -6.59 4.89
683
Euro/Dollar 1.5417
Dollar/Yen 99.52
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok and
Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
