* Gold off highs on strengthening dollar
* Platinum slips on South Africa power tariff hike
* Dlr rallies broadly from 1-wk lows after SNB stands pat
(Releads with gold off highs, adds new quotes)
By Naveen Thukral
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Gold slipped from a one-week
high on Thursday as investors and banks sold the yellow metal
after the dollar rallied on the Swiss National Bank's decision
to keep its interest rates unchanged.
Spot gold <XAU=> was down at 887.90/888.95 an ounce by 1117
GMT from $890.75/891.95 late in New York on Wednesday, when it
jumped nearly $7 on a falling dollar and higher oil prices.
Earlier on Thursday the precious metal hit $895.05 an ounce,
its highest since June 9.
"It is mostly the dollar and oil," said Mitsubishi Corp
analyst Tom Kendall. "We had a little run up (yesterday) mostly
on the back of crude."
Another analyst said a couple of banks were selling.
"Disappointed longs perhaps," he said, adding that gold
prices are likely to trade in a range of $885-$900.
A firm U.S. currency makes metals priced in dollars
expensive for holders of other currencies, while gold is seen as
a store of value during times of inflation, which is threatening
to turn into a spiral.
The dollar rallied broadly on Thursday, benefitting as the
Swiss National Bank's decision to keep its interest rates on
hold stalled the Swiss franc's overnight advance. []
Gold has climbed this week on a weaker dollar.
"Gold prices have been able to rally recently in large part
because the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank
softened their anti-inflation rhetoric," HSBC said in a note.
"Thus reducing the prospect of imminent monetary policy
tightening and allowing financial markets to re-evaluate the
chances of a U.S. rate rise."
PLATINUM UNDERPINNED
Gold hit a record of $1,030.80 on March 17 before a broad
sell-off in commodities dragged down prices.
Oil steadied on Thursday, supported by a further production
outage in Nigeria and as a top U.S. investment bank raised its
oil price forecast. U.S. crude <CLc1> was down 1.07 cents to
$135.61 a barrel. <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. []
"Platinum we think has the strongest fundamentals within the
precious metals complex, especially now as we've entered peak
demand period for power in South Africa," said Suki Cooper,
analyst at Barclays Capital.
"Power problems in South Africa haven't been resolved and
that will keep the market on tenterhooks."
Spot platinum <XPT=> was down at $2,048.50/2,068.50 an ounce
from $2,080.50/2,100.50 on Wednesday. It rallied to $2,103.50 an
ounce on Wednesday, its highest since May 28.
A power shortage in South Africa, the world's top producer
of the metal used in autocatalytic converters, sparked worries
about a supply deficit and propelled prices to an all time high
of $2,290 in early March.
Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $462.50/470.00 an ounce from
$466.00/474.00 on Wednesday. Silver <XAG=> gained to
$17.23/17.30 an ounce from $17.05/17.13.
(Editing by Peter Blackburn)
