(Updates with quotes, prices, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)
By Veronica Brown
LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gold briefly dipped below $900
per ounce on Wednesday as platinum prices came off record highs.
By 1150 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $900.60/901.30
per ounce, having earlier dropped to $885.30, compared with
$907.70/908.50 quoted in New York late on Tuesday.
Dealers and analysts said a sharp retreat by platinum from a
record $1,965 hit on Tuesday had taken away a key support for
gold, exposing a lack of real upside momentum.
"Really we should be in for a time of side-ways action to
lower in gold -- a time of reflection to see how interest rate
cuts pan out, how policy changes that have been implemented pan
out and what happens generally with the economy," said Simon
Weeks, director of gold sales at Bank of Nova Scotia.
"There's a bias probably on the downside, simply because we
need to unwind some of the concentration that we have at the
moment," he added.
Gold fell on Tuesday after billionaire investor Warren
Buffett said he had offered to reinsure $800 billion of debt
guaranteed by bond insurers, easing some worries about further
fallout from the credit crisis. []
Currency fundamentals were less favourable for gold, as the
euro lost upward momentum against the dollar on concerns about
downside surprises on the euro zone economy and the possibility
of European Central Bank interest rates cuts in coming months.
A stronger U.S. currency makes dollar-priced gold less
attractive for non-U.S. investors.
On physical markets, purchases from jewellers and investors
started to pick up as prices moved away from historic highs, but
business remained slow in main consumer India despite the
wedding season. []
Looking ahead, investors were watching out for U.S. retail
data for a temperature check on the world's biggest economy.
Economists polled by Reuters estimate U.S. retail sales
slipped 0.2 percent in January after a 0.4 percent decline in
December, but rose 0.2 percent with auto transactions excluded.
[]
In other bullion markets, COMEX's April gold futures <GCJ8>
fell $6.50 to $904.6 an ounce.
PLATINUM BREATHER
Platinum prices retreated from a blistering rally that saw
nine days of successive record highs as investors factored in
reduced output from top producer South Africa, as mines there
endure a power crisis.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,914/1,924 an ounce from
$1,920/1,925 in New York on Tuesday, when it rallied to a record
high of $1,965.
While investors had decided to book profits from the latest
pulse higher, dealers and analysts said the overall trend
remained bullish.
"A breather is "healthy" in our view," Commerzbank
commodities analyst Eugen Weinberg said in a note to clients.
"The ongoing risk of further bottlenecks in energy supply in
South Africa is creating the basis for further upside potential.
News on the supply side remains worrying," he added.
Northam Platinum Ltd <NHMJ.J> on Tuesday posted a 29 percent
fall in headline earnings per share, while output also fell in
the first half of its financial year.
Palladium <XPD=> followed platinum's lead, falling to
$426/430 an ounce from $434/437 an ounce late in New York on
Tuesday and off a 6-year high of $447 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> eased to $17.04/17.09 an ounce from
$17.13/17.18 in New York -- off Tuesday's 27-year high of $17.60
an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore;
editing by Chris Johnson)
