* Gold flat in dollars, up in yen
* Soros says gold in a bull market, won't last
* Coming Up: U.S. producer prices Aug; 1230 GMT on Thursday
(Updates with details, Soros interview, refreshes prices)
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near record highs
on Wednesday on the second anniversary of the collapse of Lehman
Brothers, holding flat on the day in dollar terms, yet hitting
two-month highs in yen after Japanese currency intervention.
Spot gold <XAU=> was little changed at $1,268.60 an ounce by
1530 GMT, after having surged more than 2 percent to a record
$1,274.75 the day before. U.S. gold futures for December
delivery <GCZ0> were down $1.70 an ounce at $1,270.10.
The most recent economic data, from the United States in
particular, has been fairly neutral -- normally a negative for
gold, which has gained some 70 percent since the credit crunch
of 2008 claimed investment bank Lehman Brothers as one of its
first high-profile victims.
But the data has also has not done much to sway investor
opinion over the increasing likelihood of the Federal Reserve
renewing its efforts to keep monetary policy exceptionally loose
through the purchase of govermment bonds, known as quantitative
easing, and low interest rates usually provide a positive
backdrop for gold.
"We have updated our gold prices higher because of ... the
very high probability of quantitative easing and when you look
at the kind of reaction the market had to quantitative easing in
2009, it does seem to be the ongoing bullish factor," said
Anne-Laure Tremblay, a metals analyst at BNP Paribas.
Billionaire investor George Soros told Reuters Insider on
Wednesday he believed gold prices might rise after hitting
record highs above $1,270 this week, but it was not a safe bet.
"Gold is the only actual bull market currently. It just made
a new high yesterday. In the present circumstances that may
continue," Soros said at a Reuters Newsmaker event.
He added: "It will be very interesting to see if there is a
decline in the next few weeks... It's certinaly not safe and
it's not going to last forever." []
Soros has long been a major investor in gold and is one of
the largest stakeholders in the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the
world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold.
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To view the George Soros interview on Reuters Insider.
please click: http://link.reuters.com/zat53p
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Gold in yen terms <XAUJPY=> rose to a high of 108,737 yen an
ounce on Wednesday, showing a three-percent gain on the day and
rising to its highest since early July, echoing a sharp fall in
the yen after monetary authorities in export-dominant Japan sold
their currency to contain its rise.
UP, UP, UP
Gold largely shrugged off a decision by Anglogold Ashanti
<ANGJ.J> to raise cash to wind down its hedges -- the largest in
the industry. []
The price is now on course for a rise of about 16 percent in
2010, fuelled largely by investor nervousness after the fallout
from the euro zone debt crisis and from concerns about the pace
of global economic recovery.
"The investment demand has risen," said Eugen Weinberg,
analyst at Commerzbank. "I wouldn't be surprised if gold goes to
$1,300 but it will not be done on any fundamental demand, but
more on technicals.
On Tuesday, respected metals consultancy GFMS Ltd said in
its Gold Survey 2010 Update, that gold could rally above $1,300
this year, as uncertainty about economic recovery and Europe's
sovereign debt crisis maintain investment interest.
[]
GFMS also noted central banks were likely to be net buyers
of gold in 2010 for the first time in over twenty years.
SPDR meanwhile reported its largest one-day rise in gold
holdings since late June. It said holdings rose to 1,298.698
tonnes by Sept. 14 from 1,292.619 tonnes by Sept. 13. []
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Graphic on gold's rise to record high:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/F/09/CMD_GLDHGH0910.gif
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Spot silver <XAG=> rose to $20.56 an ounce, from 20.40 the
day before.
Platinum <XPT=> hit $1,601.50 an ounce, the highest since
June 21, before softening to $1,599.50 versus $1,586.30.
Palladium <XPD=>, which is predominantly used in the
production of auto catalysts, traded at $561.50 from $547.75,
after having it its highest since late April on Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Alison
Birrane)
