* Gold rises almost 2 pct on oil, weaker dollar
* Dollar off 8-month peak
(Recasts, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Gold rose nearly 2 percent to
its strongest in a week on Thursday, after oil gained more than
$1 a barrel and spurred safe-haven buying, with a falling U.S.
dollar offering extra incentive to speculators to buy.
But thin volumes exaggerated movements in precious metals.
Platinum tracked gold's gains even though fears of falling
demand for autocatalysts lingered, while chart-driven buying
also supported silver and palladium, dealers said.
Gold <XAU=> hit an intraday high of $824.20 an ounce, its
highest level since Aug. 14, up from $810.35/811.75 an ounce
late in New York on Wednesday.
"After seeing sharp falls in the last few weeks, gold and
platinum are supported as we are starting to see some
bargain-hunting from end-users," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa,
analyst at IDO Securities in Tokyo.
"Falls from here would be limited, but we have to see how
the euro behaves (against the dollar) from here. Another
decline in the euro would drag precious metals and other
commodities along."
Gold was well below a lifetime high of $1,030.80 struck in
March.
Oil <Clc1> rose above $116 a barrel on Thursday, a third
straight day of gains, 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, a gauge of its performance against six
major currencies, dropped 0.4 percent to 76.639 <.DXY>, pulling
back from an eight-month peak hit earlier in the week.
"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=> rose to $1,379.00/1,399.00 an ounce
from $1,368.50/1,388.50 an ounce late in New York and 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 $13.4 an ounce to
$829.70.
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 $283.00/291.00 an ounce
from $281.00/289.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> rose to
$13.46/13.51 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 added 7 yen per gram
to 2,897 yen per gram.
Precious metals prices at 0745 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 823.25 10.60 +1.30 -1.13
Spot Silver 13.43 0.20 +1.51 -9.07
Spot Platinum 1379.00 9.50 +0.69 -9.28
Spot Palladium 283.00 1.50 +0.53 -23.10
TOCOM Gold 2898.00 8.00 +0.28 -5.29
38059
TOCOM Platinum 4809.00 51.00 +1.07 -9.93
18151
TOCOM Silver 474.70 3.50 +0.74 -12.26
1079
TOCOM Palladium 1021.00 5.00 +0.49 -24.43
442
Euro/Dollar 1.4799
Dollar/Yen 108.82
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Ben Tan)
