* Gold rises further, holding near 4-month high
* ETF holdings hit record peak as investors buy
* Oil slips, dollar gains
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains on
Monday, hovering near its highest level in almost four months
hit last week, and record high exchange-traded fund holdings
suggested flight-to-safety buying was gaining pace.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $964.20/965.10 an ounce from
$963.00/965.00 late in New York on Friday when it jumped as
high as $967.60, its strongest since March 19, as record-high
oil and falling U.S. equities sparked buying from investors.
Silver held near its highest level in four months, while
platinum matched last week's one-week high. But high prices
scared off jewellery makers and gold was still below a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 hit in March.
"With the high price right now, physical demand is a little
bit slow. It seems there's some resistance at around $970-$972
on the topside," said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at
Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.
"The political environment is not clear right now. There
are still a lot of problems, so I think the downside is not
much for the time being," said Poon, who pegged support around
$930.
Investors buy gold as a hedge against inflation, and fears
of military confrontation between Iran and Israel have helped
send oil prices to lifetime highs. Volatility in equities and
currency markets also drives investors into safe-haven gold.
Bullion held by SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, jumped to an historic high of
705.90 tonnes, surpassing a previous record around 663 tonnes
in March. <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>.
"A retest of the record high is very possible now," said
Adrian Koh, analyst at Philip Futures in Singapore.
"It's definitely very positive for gold now. I guess the
break above the $950-$955 region triggered buying and that can
be seen in the sharp increase in ETF holdings," said Koh.
Oil fell 48 cents to $144.60 a barrel, hit by a rebound in
the dollar after the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve
moved to help embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac. Oil struck another record at $147.27 on Friday. []
The euro dropped to $1.5896 <EUR=> after the Treasury
increased its direct credit lines to the mortgage giants and
said it would buy their shares if necessary. []
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $4.9 an
ounce to $965.5.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,030.50/2,050.50 an ounce
from $2,023.00/2,043.00 late in New York, having earlier hit a
high of $2,045 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to
$451.00/459.00 an ounce from $448.50/456.50 an ounce late in
New York.
Silver <XAG=> edged down to $18.74/18.79 an ounce from
$18.76/18.84 late in New York. It jumped to $18.87 an ounce on
Friday, its strongest level since March 19, to track gains in
gold.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 48 yen
per gram to 6,886 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0558 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 963.40 -0.30 -0.03 15.70
Spot Silver 18.73 -0.06 -0.32 26.81
Spot Platinum 2030.50 7.50 +0.37 33.59
Spot Palladium 451.00 2.50 +0.56 22.55
TOCOM Gold 3330.00 40.00 +1.22 8.82
69936
TOCOM Platinum 6885.00 -49.00 -0.71 28.96
20279
TOCOM Silver 649.00 9.10 +1.42 19.96
2085
TOCOM Palladium 1588.00 -22.00 -1.37 17.54
751
Euro/Dollar 1.5881
Dollar/Yen 106.58
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)
