* Platinum briefly rises above $1,600 an ounce
* Strike in South Africa shut mines and factories
* Gold firms on bargain hunting
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
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 earnings 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 $1,583.50/1,603.50 an ounce
from $1,594.50/1,614.50 late in New York on Wednesday, when it
rallied 2 percent 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.
Toyota earnings 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 16 yen per gram higher at 5,561 yen, but off an
intraday high of 5,655 yen.
Gold <XAU=> edged up to $881.70/882.50 an ounce from
$878.70/879.90 late in New York on bargain hunting following a
drop to a seven-week low this week.
"The dollar seems to be on a surge recently and that may
weigh on gold some more. I still think the $845-$850 supports
will be the next level to look at, with maybe $860-$865
providing a bit of a support in the near term," said Koh of
Philip Futures.
The euro inched up to $1.5430 <EUR=> ahead of a policy
meeting at which the European Central Bank is widely seen
leaving interest rates unchanged at 4.25 percent.
[]
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $6.4 to $889.40 an
ounce.
Spot palladium <XPD=> edged up to $351.00/356.00 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.
Precious metals prices at 0442 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 881.50 2.90 +0.33 5.86
Spot Silver 16.57 0.07 +0.42 12.19
Spot Platinum 1583.50 -11.00 -0.69 4.18
Spot Palladium 351.00 1.50 +0.43 -4.62
TOCOM Gold 3128.00 28.00 +0.90 2.22
24046
TOCOM Platinum 5556.00 11.00 +0.20 4.06
17141
TOCOM Silver 588.90 2.40 +0.41 8.85
490
TOCOM Palladium 1258.00 -29.00 -2.25 -6.88
621
Euro/Dollar 1.5430
Dollar/Yen 109.51
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
