* Gold flirts with $800, dollar weighs
* Platinum extends losses; TOCOM at 18-month low
* Oil slumps $1 as strong dollar counters storm fears
(Updates prices, adds activity in physical sector)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Tuesday after
the dollar struck a one-year high against a basket of other
currencies, prompting speculators to ditch their holdings and
shift some of their money back to currencies.
Other precious metals also dropped, with platinum falling
almost 2 percent on worries about demand for autocalysts due to
poor car sales in key markets such as the United States, Japan
and China. Tokyo platinum futures hit a one-year low.
Gold <XAU=> fell 0.2 percent to $800.50/801.40 an ounce
from $802.25/803.60 an ounce late in New York on Monday, having
hit an intraday low of $797.45 an ounce.
Bullion has fallen more than 18 percent since hitting a
four-month high of $987.75 an ounce in mid-July but stabilised
around $800 an ounce -- still up 14 percent from a year ago.
Gold was well below a lifetime high of $1,030.80 hit in
March and within sight of a nine-month low of $773.90 struck in
mid-August. Festive demand especially from main consumer India
was likely to offer support at lower levels, dealers said.
"The dollar's strength has pulled down the gold market. But
it looks like there's a bit of support at below $800," said
Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong,
referring to physical demand from jewellers.
The dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of the greenback's
performance against a basket of six currencies, hit another
one-year high on Tuesday after the U.S. government seized
control of Fannie Mae <FNM.N> and Freddie Mac <FRE.N>. []
"The range is maybe between $780 and $820 for the time
being. Speculators are only on the selling side. They may buy
back on short-covering," said Leung.
India is stepping up purchases during the festive season,
which peaks in October with Diwali, the Hindu festival of
lights. Dealers also saw purchases from jewellers in Indonesia
ahead of the Eid al-Fitri Muslim holidays in October.
"Demand from our regular customers such as India, Indonesia
and Thailand is still there. There's a shortage of physical
bars in this region, which also helps support premiums," said a
dealer in Singapore.
Premiums for gold bars were steady at $1.50 to the spot
London prices in Singapore <GOLD/ASIA1>.
Investors also watched oil for direction after U.S. crude
futures <CLc1> fell more than $1 as traders shed their
commodity positions to join the rally in the dollar and
anticipated OPEC would keep output targets unchanged at
Tuesday's meeting. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell 1.8 percent to $1,313.00/1,333.00
an ounce from $1,337.00/1,357.50 late in New York on Monday,
when it tumbled nearly 4 percent.
The benchmark platinum contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange, August 2009 <JPLc6>, fell 224 yen per gram to 4,490
yen, having hit an intraday low of 4,476 yen -- its weakest
since late mid-March 2007.
"Fund money has shifted out of the commodities markets to
stocks and currencies. It's a bearish mood in Tokyo commodities
markets," said Kazuhiko Saito of Interes Capital Management in
Tokyo.
"Demand is very bad. Automakers are not buying," said
Saito, adding that cash platinum may trade below $1,200 by
end-September, referring to a level last seen in March 2007.
Autocatalysts, used to clean exhaust fumes, account for
more than 50 percent of global demand. China's passenger car
sales fell in August from a year earlier, the first monthly
decline in more than two years as a slowing economy and the
Beijing Olympics kept would-be car buyers from showrooms.
[]
Precious metals prices at 0428 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 800.00 -1.35 -0.17 -3.93
Spot Silver 12.03 -0.01 -0.08 -18.55
Spot Platinum 1316.50 -17.00 -1.27 -13.39
Spot Palladium 258.00 0.50 +0.19 -29.89
TOCOM Gold 2779.00 -65.00 -2.29 -9.18
31413
TOCOM Platinum 4493.00 -221.00 -4.69 -15.85
19754
TOCOM Silver 419.60 -18.40 -4.20 -22.44
1089
TOCOM Palladium 914.00 -53.00 -5.48 -32.35
593
Euro/Dollar 1.4090
Dollar/Yen 107.41
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
