(Updates prices)
SINGAPORE, March 13 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains on
Thursday, moving closer to its recent record, as speculative
buying accelerated after the U.S. dollar sank against other
currencies and oil hit an all time high above $110 a barrel.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $984.10/984.90 an ounce from
$981.90/982.70 late in New York on Wednesday and was within
sight of a record high of $991.90 hit on March 6.
Gold has gone up as much as 19 percent in 2008, on top of a
32 percent rise last year on fears of rising energy costs and
expectations of further interest rates cuts in the United
States, which elevate the metal's appeal as an alternative
investment.
Dealers pegged gold's upside target at $1,000 an ounce but
a lack of buying from jewellers could cap gains. Resistance was
at $995 an ounce.
"Where is it going this week? Maybe it's still within a
range of, let's say, $965 and $990," said William Kwan, a
dealer at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"If there's no follow through above the $995 level, it may
go down to the lower range again. If you want to see any
breakout, you've got to wait for those physical guys to be
comfortable with this price here," said Kwan, referring to
jewellers and long-term investors.
Other precious metals firmed but held below their recent
highs.
The dollar <JPY=> fell as far as 100.95 yen on trading
platform EBS, the lowest since December 1995. It dropped to a
record low against a trade-weighted basket of currencies
<.DXY>, taking its losses so far this year to nearly 6 percent.
Crude oil <CLc1> held near record on Thursday as the
dollar's weakness outweighed increases in U.S. crude
inventories.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,066/2,076 an ounce from
$2,060/2,070 late in New York.
The benchmark platinum futures contract for February
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the
morning session 81 yen per gram higher at 6,572 yen, aided by a
surging yen.
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $4.5 an
ounce to $985.0 an ounce.
In industry news, No. 2 gold producer Newmont Mining Corp
said global gold mine output willdecline over the next decade
or so because of productionconstraints and past underinvestment
in finding new resources.
For other news from the Reuters Global Mining Summit, click
on []
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $20.19/20.24 an ounce from
$20.04/20.09 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $501/506
an ounce from $496/501 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0214 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 983.60 1.10 +0.11 18.12
Spot Silver 20.18 0.05 +0.25 36.63
Spot Platinum 2065.00 5.00 +0.24 35.86
Spot Palladium 499.00 3.00 +0.60 35.60
TOCOM Gold 3227.00 -15.00 -0.46 5.46
24745
TOCOM Platinum 6572.00 81.00 +1.25 23.09
8102
TOCOM Silver 662.70 13.50 +2.08 22.50
635
TOCOM Palladium 1663.00 39.00 +2.40 23.09
2835
Euro/Dollar 1.5545
Dollar/Yen 101.17
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
