(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuters) - Gold bounced on Monday on
bargain hunting after a failure to break through the $1,000 an
ounce barrier spurred selling last week, while speculators
bought platinum on dips.
Expectations of further interest rate cuts in the United
States and record high crude oil that raised fears of inflation
were likely to sustain investors' interest in gold, which may
find good support around $960 an ounce, dealers said.
Gold roared to an historical high of $991.90 an ounce on March
6 before funds cashed in to boost liquidity. The metal has
gained nearly 20 percent in 2008 on the top of a 32 percent
rise last year.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $975.10/975.90 an ounce from
$972.60/973.40 late in New York on Friday, after it swung
between a low of $969.40 and a high at $988.00.
"I think these early preconditions that have been
supportive for the gold price are likely to remain in place in
coming weeks, particularly the anticipation that the Fed will
further lower U.S. interest rates," said David Moore, an
analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $2.4 an
ounce to $976.6 but were off a record high of $995.2 an ounce
hit on March 5.
The dollar dipped back towards a record low against the
euro and an eight-year low against the yen after surprisingly
weak U.S. jobs data heightened fears the U.S. economy had
fallen into recession. []
The U.S. central bank has slashed its federal funds target
rate by 2.25 percentage points since September to its current 3
percent level and is widely expected to cut it again at its
next policy-setting session on March 18.
"I guess there's some short covering and also a bit of
physical buying. For the time being, $968 and $970 will be the
temporary support levels. The upside is capped at $993 and $980
is still a good resistance," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"There's some technical rebound in platinum but the market
is pretty thin after Tokyo futures hit limit down," he said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> firmed to $2,065/2,075 an ounce from
$2,020/2,030 an ounce in New York on bargain hunting after a
dip to $2,020 -- matching Friday's 3-week low.
Platinum was moving away from a record high of $2,290 an
ounce on March 4 on news that mines in South Africa, the
world's top platinum producer, would get more electricity
supply.
The benchmark platinum futures contract for February 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell by its
daily 300-yen limit to 6,707 yen a gram on Monday due to a
surge in the yen.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $20.20/20.25 an ounce from
$20.11/20.16 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $495/500
an ounce from $485/490 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0333 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 975.00 2.40 +0.25 17.09
Spot Silver 20.20 0.07 +0.35 36.76
Spot Platinum 2065.00 45.00 +2.23 35.86
Spot Palladium 495.00 10.00 +2.06 34.51
TOCOM Gold 3230.00 -20.00 -0.62 5.56
28211
TOCOM Platinum 6707.00 -300.00 -4.28 25.62
1306
TOCOM Silver 669.80 5.30 +0.80 23.81
1179
TOCOM Palladium 1712.00 -100.00 -5.52 26.72
795
Euro/Dollar 1.5383
Dollar/Yen 102.26
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)
