* Gold moves up on oil, weaker dollar
* Dollar off 8-month peak
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Thursday after
oil gained more than $1 a barrel and spurred safe-haven buying,
with a falling U.S. dollar offering extra incentives for
speculators to buy.
Platinum gave up earlier gains as fears of falling demand
for autocatalysts lingered, while chart-driven buying supported
silver and palladium, dealers said.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $815.50/816.50 an ounce from
$810.35/811.75 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, when it
advanced to its highest in nearly a week around $817 with the
help of physical buying.
"I think gold is consolidating at the moment. I think it's
a range market around $800 to $830 right now. But you know, the
price is actually very volatile," said Dick Poon, manager of
precious metals at Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.
Jewellers, which snapped up gold earlier this week after
prices dropped to nine-month lows last week, were on the
sidelines. "The customers are waiting for the price to get
lower. They are buying on dips," said Poon.
Gold was well below a lifetime high of $1,030.80 struck in
March.
U.S. crude futures <Clc1> rose to more than $116 a barrel
on supply concerns after Russia expressed its displeasure over
a U.S.-Poland missile shield pact. []
In theory, expensive oil lifts gold's appeal as a hedge
against inflation, while a weaker dollar makes bullion an
attractive alternative investment to currencies and bonds.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar's value against
a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.2 percent to 76.777
<.DXY>. It struck its highest level this year of 77.413 on
Tuesday.
"Volume remains very thin because most people are on
vacation. I suspect we might have already seen a short-term low
of $773," said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scotia Mocatta in Hong
Kong, adding the upsided was capped at $835 to $845.
"So it just plays with the range for the time being," he
said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,363.00/1,383.00 an ounce
from $1,368.50/1,388.50 an ounce late in New York but off
Tuesday's 11-month low around $1,296 an ounce.
"I think it's a bit oversold earlier on but I don't think
it could bounce back to the $1,500-$1,600 areas. It's quite
difficult, so it's still consolidating for the time being,"
said Tse of Scotia Mocatta.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $5.0 an ounce to
$821.20.
Gold sales by signatories of the Central Bank Gold
Agreement could be the lowest since the pact was signed in
1999, the World Gold Council said on Wednesday. []
Spot palladium <XPD=> inched up to $284.00/289.50 an ounce
from $281.00/289.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged up to
$13.22/13.28 an ounce from $13.15/13.21 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange was unchanged at 2,890
yen per gram.
Precious metals prices at 0508 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 815.90 3.25 +0.40 -2.02
Spot Silver 13.22 -0.01 -0.08 -10.49
Spot Platinum 1363.00 -6.50 -0.47 -10.33
Spot Palladium 284.00 2.50 +0.89 -22.83
TOCOM Gold 2888.00 -2.00 -0.07 -5.62
15044
TOCOM Platinum 4792.00 34.00 +0.71 -10.25
10915
TOCOM Silver 471.40 0.20 +0.04 -12.87
455
TOCOM Palladium 1026.00 10.00 +0.98 -24.06
240
Euro/Dollar 1.4778
Dollar/Yen 109.51
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
