* Gold slips from intraday highs
* Eyes on oil, Hurricane Gustav
* Volumes likely to remain low because of U.S. holiday
(Updates prices)
SINGAPORE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Gold was trading largely
unchanged on Monday, after gaining $5 early in the day on the
back of oil-led gains ahead of Hurricane Gustav, but volumes
will likely remain low because of a U.S. holiday.
Platinum and silver shed early gains, while palladium
dropped after hitting a two-week high last week on fund buying.
Investors waited for the release of U.S. economic indicators,
including Friday's non-farm payrolls.
Gold <XAU=> hit an intraday high of $835.25 an ounce before
slipping to $830.50/831.50 an ounce, from $830.35/832.35 an
ounce late in New York on Friday. U.S. markets were closed on
Monday for Labor Day holiday.
"I guess with the United States on Labor Day today, markets
are going to be a bit quieter. But I guess the focus for today
and over the next few days will probably be on Hurricane Gustav
and its after-effects," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip
Futures.
"I think in the near-term, gold will still be looking at
the $845 resistance and we will probably need a clear break
above those regions before gold can head higher," he said.
Gold has bounced since tumbling to nine-month lows around
$773 an ounce in mid-August but is still well below a record
high of $1,030.80 struck in March.
"We saw a sharp decline in currencies and gold recently,
and perhaps we are going to consolidate around those levels for
a while before the market decides where to go next," said Koh.
"Frankly speaking, I think gold's going to consolidate
around these levels. Probably around the $770-$900 ranges," he
said.
Oil <CLc1> firmed almost $2 after U.S. energy companies
raced to shut down offshore oil production and flood-prone
refineries in the Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Gustav, which
is evoking memories of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. []
The benchmark gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange, August 2009 <JAUc6>, ended the morning session 31 yen
per gram lower at 2,913 yen.
Gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $0.6 an
ounce to $835.90.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,459.50/1,479.50 an ounce,
from $1,474.50/1,494.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
eased to $299.00/307.00 an ounce from $303.00/341.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> firmed to $13.62/13.68 an ounce from
$13.58/13.68 an ounce late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0225 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 830.15 0.35 +0.04 -0.31
Spot Silver 13.63 0.05 +0.37 -7.72
Spot Platinum 1459.00 -17.50 -1.19 -4.01
Spot Palladium 299.00 -3.50 -1.16 -18.75
TOCOM Gold 2913.00 -31.00 -1.05 -4.80
16492
TOCOM Platinum 5058.00 -17.00 -0.33 -5.26
7646
TOCOM Silver 480.80 -5.10 -1.05 -11.13
366
TOCOM Palladium 1070.00 15.00 +1.42 -20.80
550
Euro/Dollar 1.4629
Dollar/Yen 108.38
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan;)
