(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Gold fell more than 1
percent on Monday as the U.S. dollar jumped against other
currencies after the Group of Seven meeting, prompting
investors to trim their positions in bullion and other precious
metals.
Platinum fell 3 percent to below $2,000, silver dropped
more than 2 percent, while platinum also tumbled 3 percent.
Gold <XAU=> hit a low of $914.10 an ounce, down from
$924.60/925.40 late in New York on Friday -- well below a
record high of $1,030.80 an ounce hit on March 17.
A failure to stay above a key resistance of $930 also
prompted selling from investors, who now await this week's U.S.
data which include retail sales, producer prices and consumer
prices, and quarterly earnings announcements by U.S. banks.
"There's some selling pressure on the market. It's reacting to
the dollar. I think that's the only reason," said Ronald Leung,
director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"There's not much physical buying. If goes down to $900 or
below, of course it will attract some buying," said Leung, who
expected gold to trade in volatile $880 to $930 ounce range in
coming days.
The euro hit a low of $1.5658 <EUR=>, down from around
$1.5810 in late U.S. trading after the Group of Seven major
industrialised countries surprised speculators by expressing
concern about excessive fluctuations in currencies.
In theory, a surging dollar reduces gold's appeal as an
alternative investment to stocks, currencies and bonds.
Platinum <XPT=> fell as low as $1,940 an ounce, down from
$2,002/2,007 late in New York to track weaker gold and as
speculators liquidated positions in Tokyo futures. Platinum
hovered well below a record high of $2,290 hit on March 4.
"Active liquidation emerged as platinum struggled to rise
strongly above $2,000. Sharp falls in equities were giving a
cautious mood," said Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp
Futures and Securities in Tokyo.
"The market wants to pull out from risky assets ahead of
announcements of earning results by several U.S. investment
banks this week," Sugata said.
The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> fell 4.3
percent or 281 yen per gram to 6,179 yen at the end of the
morning session.
Gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $8.4 an ounce to
$918.6 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> dropped to $17.31/17.36 an ounce from
$17.75/17.80 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $455/460
an ounce from $466/474 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0235 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 915.80 -9.10 -0.98 9.98
Spot Silver 17.30 -0.44 -2.48 17.13
Spot Platinum 1946.00 -46.50 -2.33 28.03
Spot Palladium 455.00 -11.00 -2.36 23.64
TOCOM Gold 2999.00 -55.00 -1.80 -1.99
27867
TOCOM Platinum 6179.00 -281.00 -4.35 15.73
15636
TOCOM Silver 567.00 -25.90 -4.37 4.81
553
TOCOM Palladium 1512.00 -36.00 -2.33 11.92
898
Euro/Dollar 1.5708
Dollar/Yen 101.15
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 Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Michael Urquhart)
