* Gold slips as oil prices fall, dollar steady
* Platinum recovers but trades near 5-month low
* Tokyo gold below 25-year high
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters) - Gold dipped on Wednesday as
oil extended losses and robbed the metal of some of its appeal
as a hedge against inflation, while platinum bounced after
falling to its lowest level in more than five months.
Gold was also weighed by the U.S. dollar, which held much
of its gains, and rising stock markets, which in theory reduce
bullion's appeal as an alternative investment.
Gold <XAU=> dropped to $947.00/948.00 an ounce from
$948.30/949.90 late in New York. It hit an intraday high of
$975.95 in volatile trade on Tuesday before a fall in oil
prices dragged it to a low of $942.80 -- its weakest since July
11.
Overnight gains in U.S. stocks and a rise in Japan's Nikkei
share average <> encouraged some investors to put their
money back into shares and put pressure on bullion, said
Kazuhiko Saito of Interes Capital Management in Tokyo.
"There's a shift from the gold market to stocks," said
Saito, who pegged support at $920 an ounce.
Oil <CLc1> wasdown 35 cents at $128.07 a barrel after
falling more than $3 to a six-week low in the previous session
as the threat of Hurricane Dolly to oil drillers andrefiners
eased, and concerns over faltering U.S. energy demandincreased.
[]
The euro was barely changed at $1.5788 <EUR=>. The dollar
gained after Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles
Plosser said rising inflation could force the Fed to start
raising rates, giving a big lift to the dollar. []
"I am not sure whether the adjustment overnight is going to
have a big impact in terms of attracting what you might call
bargain buying," said David Moore, analyst at Commonwealth Bank
of Australia in Sydney.
"You've got to remember that it was only a couple of weeks
ago that gold was actually even lower than current levels."
Gold prices have been volatile since hitting a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 an ounce in March. It fell to a four-month
low of $845 an ounce in May because of a recovery in the
dollar.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,806/1,826 an ounce from
$1,800.50/1,820.50 an ounce. On Tuesday, it hit a low of
$1,791.50, its weakest since early February, on worries over
falling demand for autocatalysts due to a slowing U.S. economy.
Dealers cited buying interest from the industrial sector in
Asia at lower levels, but platinum could still fall below
$1,800 due to a lack of follow through buying in Europe.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.6 to
$947.90 an ounce.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the morning
session 63 yen per gram lower at 3,298 yen, having hit a
25-year high of 3,363 yen on Tuesday.
Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $400.00/406.00 an ounce from
$405.50/413.50 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged down to
$17.95/18.00 an ounce from $18.00/18.08 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0323 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 947.45 2.45 +0.26 13.78
Spot Silver 17.95 0.02 +0.11 21.53
Spot Platinum 1806.00 7.50 +0.42 18.82
Spot Palladium 400.00 -2.50 -0.62 8.70
TOCOM Gold 3298.00 -63.00 -1.87 7.78
22058
TOCOM Platinum 6217.00 -144.00 -2.26 16.45
11821
TOCOM Silver 624.90 -19.50 -3.03 15.51
495
TOCOM Palladium 1407.00 -72.00 -4.87 4.15
1034
Euro/Dollar 1.5787
Dollar/Yen 107.21
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
