* Gold steady near four-month high
* TOCOM gold strikes 25-year high as funds return
* Investors await Fed Chairman Bernanke's testimony
(Update prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near its
strongest level in almost four months on Tuesday as surging oil
prices and financial market jitters boosted the metal's
safe-haven appeal.
A firm cash market and inflation worries lifted Tokyo gold
futures to their highest level in 25 years. Silver slipped as
speculators booked profits but was within sight of its highest
level in nearly four months above $19 an ounce it hit on
Monday.
Gold <XAU=> traded at $970.20/971.20 an ounce, little
changed from $971.20/972.20 an ounce in late New York trading.
It jumped to $974.65 an ounce on Monday, its highest level
since March 19.
"The rumours are out there in the market that there may be
more regional banks in trouble. That's obviously a concern for
the market and this has driven people into more hard
asset-based investments like gold," said Darren Heathcote of
Investec Australia.
Gold's appeal as an alternative investment to stocks and
bonds has increased on worries about the future of Fannie Mae
<FNM.N> and Freddie Mac <FRE.N> despite the U.S. government's
pledge to support the nation's top mortgage finance firms.
Shares of major U.S. banks plunged on Monday amid fears
about the sector's stability following Friday's seizure by
regulators of IndyMac Bancorp as withdrawals by panicked
depositors led to the third-largest U.S. banking failure.
[]
"I think we'll still get support coming in around the $950
level. On the top side, I would suggest that it might be
somewhere around the $985-$986 level," said Heathcote.
Gold struck a lifetime high of $1,030.80 in March.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange hit a high of 3,346
yen, its highest level since September 1983, before ending the
morning session at 3,335 yen, up 19 yen from Monday's close.
Profit taking erased some of the in Tokyo futures but
overall sentiment was upbeat ahead of testimony by Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, said Kazuhiko Saito, commodity
strategist at Interes Capital Management in Tokyo.
"Gold's bullish tone continues," said Saito, who pegged the
upside target for cash gold at $990 an ounce.
The euro slipped to $1.5895, not far from the record high
of $1.6020 hit in April.
Dealers await Bernanke's testimony before the Senate
Banking Committee on Tuesday to see how the latest developments
in the financial sector will affect his views on monetary
policy and the economy. []
Oil <CLc1> eased 16 cents to $145.02 a barrel, but within
sight of last week's record above $147, as dealers weighed the
impact of high oil prices on global demand against fresh
threats of supply disruptions in Nigeria, Brazil and Iran.
<O/R>
Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $2.3 an ounce
to $971.4.
Silver <XAG=> edged down to $19.05/19.11 an ounce from
$19.12/19.18 late in New York on Monday, when it jumped to a
four-month high of $19.20 an ounce.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,995.00/2,015.00 an ounce
from $2,012.00/2,032.00 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
was steady at $448.00/456.00 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0221 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 970.20 -1.50 -0.15 16.51
Spot Silver 19.05 0.00 +0.00 28.98
Spot Platinum 1995.00 -17.00 -0.84 31.25
Spot Palladium 448.00 0.50 +0.11 21.74
TOCOM Gold 3335.00 19.00 +0.57 8.99
35321
TOCOM Platinum 6739.00 -98.00 -1.43 26.22
15693
TOCOM Silver 654.50 8.80 +1.36 20.98
1014
TOCOM Palladium 1556.00 -9.00 -0.58 15.17
520
Euro/Dollar 1.5921
Dollar/Yen 105.95
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)
