* Platinum briefly rises above $1,600 an ounce
* Strike in South Africa shut mines and factories
* Gold firms on bargain hunting
(Recasts)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Platinum spurted above $1,600
an ounce on Thursday before dropping back as the impact of a
one-day strike in main producer South Africa subsided and
worries about falling demand for autocatalysts resurfaced.
Investors await quarterly results of Toyota Motor Corp
<7203.T>, the world's biggest automaker, after sales in the
United States, its largest market, dropped 6 percent in the
first half. Autocatalysts account for more than 60 percent of
global platinum use.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,584/1,604 an ounce from
$1,594.50/1,614.50 late in New York on Wednesday, when it
rallied 2 percent on supply fears after a national strike in
main producer South Africa forced mines and factories to shut.
Follow-through buying lifted platinum to a high of $1,603
on Thursday but it struggled to hold the gains. Platinum hit a
six-month low of $1,517 this week as the slowing U.S. economy
and poor car sales threatened to cut demand from automakers.
"It's oversold, so there's bargain hunting. But the trend
continues to be bearish," said Kazuhiko Saito of Interes
Capital Management in Tokyo.
The market waited for the release of Toyota earnings which
may set the tone for platinum, said Saito, adding that prices
could fall to $1,450 an ounce -- a level last seen in late
2007.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> will announce results at 0600
GMT with profit seen sliding by about a third, but market
attention is on its full-year forecasts and whether another
downward revision will emerge. [] Supply fears that
sent platinum to a record high of $2,290 in March reappeared
after striking workers in South Africa forced mines and
factories to shut on Wednesday in a protest against rising
power, food and fuel prices. []
But dealers said Thursday's sharp movements showed the
outlook remained shaky for platinum, with automakers showing
little interest although prices were well below the record.
"There may be a bit of bargain hunting at lower levels, but
I dont see any signs that we are out of the sharp downtrend
yet. For support, I am looking around $1,507 and resistance
around $1,685," said Adrian Koh, analyst at Philip Futures in
Singapore.
The most active Tokyo platinum contract for June 2009
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the
morning session 17 yen per gram higher at 5,562 yen, having hit
a high of 5,655 yen.
Gold <XAU=> edged up to $882.00/883.00 an ounce from
$878.70/879.90 late in New York on bargain hunting following a
drop to a seven-week low this week, but dealers a rebound in
the dollar could trigger selling.
The euro inched up to $1.5430 <EUR=>, ahead of a policy
meeting on Thursday at which the European Central Bank is
widely seen leaving interest rates unchanged at 4.25 percent.
[]
New York gold <GCZ8> added $6.9 to $889.90 an ounce.
Spot palladium <XPD=> edged down to $340.00/357.00 an ounce
from $349.50/357.50 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged up to
$16.57/16.64 an ounce from $16.51/16.57 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0339 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 882.50 3.90 +0.44 5.98
Spot Silver 16.55 0.05 +0.30 12.05
Spot Platinum 1587.50 -7.00 -0.44 4.44
Spot Palladium 349.00 -0.50 -0.14 -5.16
TOCOM Gold 3122.00 22.00 +0.71 2.03
19308
TOCOM Platinum 5562.00 17.00 +0.31 4.18
14408
TOCOM Silver 588.10 1.60 +0.27 8.71
282
TOCOM Palladium 1260.00 -27.00 -2.10 -6.74
460
Euro/Dollar 1.5430
Dollar/Yen 109.42
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
