(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 18 (Reuters) - Gold dropped below $1,000
an Tuesday ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting on interest
rates, suggesting investors and speculators were still keen to
book profits after pushing up the price to record highs.
Gold <XAU=> dropped to $998.60/999.40 per ounce from
$1,001.00/1,001.80 an ounce in New York. It spiked to an
historical high of $1,030.80 an ounce on Monday before profit
taking erased most of the gains.
"I think we can say there's disappointed selling today
because it could not break the high," said Ronald Leung,
director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
But investors remained bullish on gold and fears of further
rises in prices also attracted limited buying from jewellers,
said Leung, who pegged support at $990 and resistance $1,020.
Gold has gained more than 23 percent in 2008 on fears of
inflation as crude oil hit record, expectations of further rate
cuts and deepening U.S. financial concerns after JPMorgan Chase
& Co <JPM.N> said it would buy cash-strapped Bear Stearns
<BSC.N>.
Platinum hit a 1-week low, while silver and palladium
hovered below their recent highs.
The dollar hovered above its lowest level against the yen in
nearly 13 years and a record low against the euro, but was
prone to more declines on worries about the U.S. financial
system. []
The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 1
percentage point to 2 percent at a policy meeting on Tuesday,
and investors now see some chance of an even deeper cut.
"I believe the key level remains at $1,025. That's the
resistance level. Any level above that might not be
sustainable," said William Kwan, a dealer at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
"But fundamentally, there's a lot of safe-haven buying on
anticipation the U.S. dollar will weaken further," he said.
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $2.8 an ounce
to $999.8 an ounce, off Monday's record of $1,033.90.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,942/1,952 an ounce from
$1,980/1,990 late in New York on Monday and off a record high
of $2,290 an ounce hit on March 4.
Speculators booked profits after main producer South Africa
said last week it would boost electricity output to gold mines
after a power crisis.
The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> fell by the
daily 300 yen limit to 5,991 yen per gram in a carryover of
selling from New York.
Silver <XAG=> edged down to $19.95/20.00 an ounce from
$20.35/20.41 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $460/465
an ounce from $465/470 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0257 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 998.75 -3.55 -0.35 19.94
Spot Silver 19.95 -0.20 -0.99 35.07
Spot Platinum 1942.00 -38.00 -1.92 27.76
Spot Palladium 460.00 -5.00 -1.08 25.00
TOCOM Gold 3141.00 -87.00 -2.70 2.65
50313
TOCOM Platinum 5991.00 -300.00 -4.77 12.21
3852
TOCOM Silver 627.50 -39.90 -5.98 15.99
1711
TOCOM Palladium 1503.00 -100.00 -6.24 11.25
500
Euro/Dollar 1.5756
Dollar/Yen 97.08
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
