(Updates prices, adds closing in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuters) - Gold rose nearly 1 percent
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. The metal has gained nearly 20
percent in 2008, on the top of a 32 percent rise last year.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $979.60/980.40 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 pre-conditions 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 $7.1 an
ounce to $981.4, but were off a record high of $995.2 it 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 a 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 $2,068/2,078 an ounce from
$2,020/2,030 an ounce in New York on bargain hunting, after a
dip to $2,020, which matched 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 ended by its
daily 300-yen limit to 6,707 yen a gram because of a surge in
the yen.
Silver <XAG=> rose to $20.33/20.38 an ounce from
$20.11/20.16 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $495/504
an ounce from $485/490 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0836 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 979.00 6.40 +0.66 17.57
Spot Silver 20.32 0.19 +0.94 37.58
Spot Platinum 2075.00 55.00 +2.72 36.51
Spot Palladium 497.00 12.00 +2.47 35.05
TOCOM Gold 3244.00 -6.00 -0.18 6.01
74168
TOCOM Platinum 6707.00 -300.00 -4.28 25.62
3508
TOCOM Silver 674.80 10.30 +1.55 24.73
2131
TOCOM Palladium 1712.00 -100.00 -5.52 26.72
2098
Euro/Dollar 1.5367
Dollar/Yen 102.21
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Sambit Mohanty)
