* Gold consolidates after record high; new peaks eyed
* South African gold output falls but scrap supply picks up
* Palladium, platinum, rhodium hit highest in over a year
(Updates prices)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Gold retreated from the record
high it hit early on Thursday as the dollar recovered after
lower-than-expected U.S. weekly jobless claims enhanced hopes
for the recovery of the world's largest economy.
Spot gold hit a record $1,122.85 an ounce in Asian trade,
helping lift other precious metals, with palladium, platinum and
rhodium all reaching their highest in more than a year.
At 1614 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,110.75 an ounce,
versus $1,117.45 late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold
futures for December delivery <GCZ9> on the COMEX division of
the New York Mercantile Exchange eased $3.30 to $1,111.30.
"The gold price is really struggling with the $1,110 mark,"
said Tobias Merath, head of commodity research at Credit Suisse.
"It will probably take a couple of days for us to break higher
from here. A weekly close above the $1,100 would be important."
Despite gold's consolidation, he said the picture was still
positive for the metal.
"We see continuous inflows from financial investors almost
on a daily basis, real interest rates are still lower and the
dollar is weakening, so the three pillars of this gold rally are
still in place," he said.
The dollar index <.DXY> rose after U.S. weekly jobless
claims came in lower than expected. Data showed initial state
jobless benefit claims fell to 502,000 in the latest week from a
revised 514,000 a week before. [] []
But overall the dollar remained vulnerable to further
losses, analysts said.
"Consensus remains very dollar bearish," VTB Capital analyst
Andrey Kryuchenkov said in a note. "A sustained push below 75 on
the index could see gold rallying even higher towards $1,150
before the end of the month," he added.
S.AFRICA OUTPUT DROPS
South Africa, formerly the world's biggest gold producer and
now number three, said its gold output dropped 9.3 percent in
volume terms in September. []
Sales of scrap gold are increasing in India, the world's
biggest bullion consumer last year, dealers said, as higher
prices encourage consumers to sell gold back to the market.
[]
But demand for new products remained weak as traders were
reluctant to place fresh orders in the middle of the wedding
season, which will last until December.
The chief executive of Barrick Gold Corp <ABX.TO>, the
world's biggest gold miner, told the Financial Times gold may
ease from current highs, although the chances of prices falling
below $900 an ounce are slim. []
Among other precious metals, spot silver <XAG=> was bid at
$17.39 an ounce against $17.57, tracking gold.
Palladium, platinum and rhodium all hit their highest level
in more than a year on a wave of speculative buying of the
precious metals used in autocatalysts.
Palladium reached its highest since August 2008 at $356.75
an ounce, while platinum struck a 14-month high of $1,379 in
early trade. Later platinum <XPT=> eased to $1,355 from $1,368,
while palladium <XPD=> rose to $350.10 from $341.50.
Rhodium <RHOD-LON> also reached $2,100 an ounce, its highest
since October 2008.
One European platinum group metals trader said the metals
were benefiting from purely speculative flows, prompted by talk
of a recovery in Chinese and wider buying.
"A lot of people think PGMs could outperform gold," said
Calyon metals analyst Robin Bhar. "People are playing the
recovery hopes for autocatalyst demand."
(Editing by Sue Thomas)
