* Gold rebounds from lows as dollar gives up gains
* Platinum drops to 11-week low on fears of falling demand
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Friday but
rebounded from an intraday low as the U.S. dollar gave up early
gains, spurring demand from jewellery makers and speculators.
Platinum fell to an 11-week low as a sell-off in Tokyo
futures put pressure on spot prices. It has lost more than 19
percent in value since rallying to a record high of $2,290 an
ounce March after power shortages disrupted mining in main
producer South Africa.
Gold <XAU=> fell to $961.20/962.00 an ounce from
$962.10/963.10 an ounce late in New York on Thursday -- off a
four-month high of $987.75 an ounce hit on Tuesday.
"There's a little bit of recovery on the physical side.
It's not too strong," said Dick Poon, manager of precious
metals at Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.
He expected gold to trade from $930 to $1,000, reflecting
volatility in the bullion market in coming days.
The euro was barely changed at $1.5867 <EUR=>, off a
session low of $1.5822 hit after European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet said euro zone growth is likely
to be weak in the second and third quarter before staging a
recovery. []
Uncertainty over the U.S. financial system and fears of
military confrontation between Iran and Israel that had sent
oil to record highs would still support gold, said Yukuji
Sonoda, precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities.
"As long as there's this possibility, the oil price will
not decrease that much. This is also a good support for gold.
Gold's bottom price is $900 and for oil, it is maybe $120," he
said.
Investors buy gold as a hedge against inflation, and fears
of rising energy costs helped propelled the metal to a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 in March.
Oil prices rebounded above $130 a barrel on Friday as
buyers returned to the market after a more than 10 percent
slide in three days. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,853.50/1,873.50 an ounce
from $1,881/1,901 late in New York on Thursday, having hit an
intraday low of $1,845 an ounce -- its lowest level since May
2.
Platinum is suffering from a gloomy outlook for the global
economy, deepening fears over demand from carmakers for
autocatalysts, a major use for platinum.
General Motors Corp <GM.N> announced on Wednesday a
sweeping plan to cut $10 billion in costs over through 2009 and
to sell up to $4 billion in assets in order to shore up its
liquidity.
"There's a high possibility that General Motors will go
bankrupt. That's incredible," said Sonoda of Daiichi
Commodities.
Platinum could fall as low as $1,800 before picking up
again, with the help of a recovery in gold prices, he said.
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $9.0 an ounce
to $961.7.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 241 yen
per gram to 6,265 yen.
Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $418.00/426.00 an ounce from
$420.00/428.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> rose to $18.53/18.60 an
ounce from $18.39/18.48 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0733 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 959.65 3.05 +0.32 15.25
Spot Silver 18.51 0.01 +0.05 25.32
Spot Platinum 1849.50 -31.50 -1.67 21.68
Spot Palladium 418.00 -2.00 -0.48 13.59
TOCOM Gold 3312.00 19.00 +0.58 8.24
48017
TOCOM Platinum 6261.00 -245.00 -3.77 17.27
36366
TOCOM Silver 640.20 -3.10 -0.48 18.34
759
TOCOM Palladium 1466.00 -31.00 -2.07 8.51
1402
Euro/Dollar 1.5845
Dollar/Yen 106.31
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
