* Gold rises more than 7 percent, rallying above $800
* Physical buying supports gold, but investors cautious
* Economic uncertainties bolster gold's haven status
(Recasts, new details throughout, moves dateline from LONDON)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Gold rallied above $800 an
ounce on Friday, ending the week 8 percent higher, as mounting
economic uncertainties and strong physical bullion demand
triggered a bout of heavy buying.
Investor confidence was shaken after shares of Citigroup,
the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, tumbled for a fifth
straight day, as the company looked at options, including a
sale of parts of the company or a merger.
U.S. stocks were up 4 percent in Friday's late trade, a day
after Wall Street slid to 11-year lows and blue-chip Dow Jones
industrial average lost nearly 500 points. []
"Gold is really starting to re-emerge as the safe-haven
asset," said David Meger, a metals analyst at Alaron Trading.
"The fact that gold is holding up well in the midst of the
commodity decline shows some nice physical support. We have
noticed very significant physical demand every time the market
would test the lower $700 levels," Meger said.
Spot gold <XAU=> rose to $800.70 an ounce, its highest
since Oct 21. It ended at $798.75 at 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT),
up 7.2 percent from Thursday's close.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> settled up
$43.10, or 5.8 percent, at $791.80 an ounce on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices managed to rally, even though global equities
fell ... It is possible that gold is benefiting from safe-haven
buying, which could be offsetting the impact of rising
deflationary pressures," said James Steel, chief commodity
analyst at HSBC.
Meanwhile, a widely followed industry report showed
physical buying continued to boost gold.
Global demand for gold jumped 18 percent year-over-year to
1,133.4 tonnes in the third quarter, reversing a weaker trend
earlier this year as investors hoarded gold bullion coins and
bars and jewelry buying rose, the World Gold Council said on
Wednesday. []
"We have not seen a huge change in fundamentals. The World
Gold Council report certainly supports from a demand
perspective. We think on the back of strong jewelry demand the
downside should be cushioned for gold prices," said Suki
Copper, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
A WGC official said on Friday demand for gold was expected
to be steady around 843 tonnes in the fourth quarter on festive
demand and buying by investors. []
But gold is still about 25 percent below a lifetime high of
$1,030.80 struck in March, which it has been unable to revisit
after selling choked off recent rallies. It hit a two-month
high of $931 in October, but sharp declines in equities forced
investors to cash in to cover losses.
Platinum <XPT=> fetched $806.00, 5.7 percent higher than
Thursday's late quote, following broad-based strength of all
precious metals.
The metal is used mainly as autocatalysts to clean exhaust
fumes.
Honda Motor Co <7267.T> said it would build fewer cars in
Japan, Europe and North America to reflect an increasingly
bleak outlook for sales as the global economic crisis
discourages big-ticket purchases. []
Silver <XAG=> was at $9.57, up 6.9 percent from Thursday's
finish, and palladium <XPD=> fetched $176.50, up 2 percent from
its previous close.
(Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in London; Editing by
Walter Bagley)
