(Updates prices, adds closing in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Gold relinquished early gains
on Friday but held near an historic high hit the previous day,
while platinum powered to a record high as supply problems in
South Africa triggered another round of speculative buying.
Gold <XAU=> dipped to $943.00/943.90 an ounce from
$944.40/945.20 an ounce late in New York. On Thursday, it
rallied to $953.60, its highest level ever, before a sharp
decline in crude oil erased much of the day's gains.
But dealers said the prospect of more rate cuts in the
United States supported gold's appeal as an alternative
investment and kept the upward momentum intact. Bullion has
risen as much as 14.4 percent so far this year.
Silver held near a 27-year high and palladium was within
sight of a 6-1/2-year high.
"The next probable stop in gold is around $955 and that is
likely to be witnessed in coming days. Beyond that, $970 and
$980 also seem possible," said Pradeep Unni, an analyst at
Vision Commodities in Dubai.
Gold could also undergo a correction but a price dip would
attract bargain hunting and buying interest from main consumer
India ahead of the busy marriage season in April, when demand
for gold jewellery picks up, he said.
"The momentum is showing no signs of cooling and any
pullback will ideally trigger fresh buying interest. The risk
is quite high at such high levels but as long as gold trades
above the $930 level, a major slide is unlikely."
Crude oil <CLc1> was steady on Friday, hovering below
recent record above $101 a barrel.
Spot platinum <XPT=> jumped to a record high of $2,192 an
ounce before profit taking erased some of the gains to
$2,155/2,165 an ounce. It was last quoted at $2,151/2,161 in
New York.
"People are happy to buy at lower levels," said Ronald
Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, adding
that there were also purchases from auto makers.
"We don't know what the higher levels are, maybe $3,000 or
$4,000. The only thing is that it seems people are happy to
buy. That's all," he said.
Platinum, used in jewellery and auto catalysts, has jumped
more than 40 percent this year after mines in South Africa,
accounting for 80 percent of world output, were shut for five
days at the height of last month's power crisis.
South African power utility Eskom said it had contracted 30
million tonnes coal of the 45 million tonnes it needs over the
next two years to help resolve a crippling power crisis.
The dollar held near two-week lows versus a basket of
currencies after U.S. data showing the weakest regional factory
activity since the last recession boosted expectations for
aggressive rate cuts. []
Japanese platinum futures were off an all-time high. The
most active December contract <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange ended 25 yen per gram lower at 7,180 yen, having
traded between 7,098 and 7,375 yen.
Palladium <XPD=> dropped to $504/509 an ounce from $510/515
an ounce, within sight of Thursday's 6-1/2-year high of $525 an
ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.87/17.92 an ounce from
$17.84/17.89 an ounce -- not far from Thursday's 27-year high
of $18.03 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0837 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 943.80 -0.50 -0.05 13.34
Spot Silver 17.88 0.04 +0.22 21.06
Spot Platinum 2155.00 4.00 +0.19 41.78
Spot Palladium 504.00 -6.00 -1.18 36.96
TOCOM Gold 3273.00 -27.00 -0.82 6.96
91687
TOCOM Platinum 7180.00 -25.00 -0.35 34.48
53798
TOCOM Silver 621.80 -4.60 -0.73 14.94
1347
TOCOM Palladium 1790.00 16.00 +0.90 32.49
23665
Euro/Dollar 1.4815
Dollar/Yen 107.19
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
