* Gold advances after Wednesday's brief dip below $800
* Indian, Mideast physical buyers seen stepping in
* Platinum drops 4 pct on demand fears
(Updates prices to late afternoon)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Thursday,
as bargain hunting and physical buying countered volatile oil
prices and recent gains in the dollar.
Platinum fell more than 4 percent to its weakest in two
weeks, hit by concern over demand for autocatalysts after
automakers reported a 10th consecutive month of U.S. sales
declines and talk that some automakers sold back inventories.
Gold had briefly dipped to near its lowest in nine months a
day earlier.
As of 0609 GMT, gold <XAU=> rose to $805.80/807.00 an ounce
from $800.05/801.65 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, when
it extended consecutive losses to a fourth day. It is still well
below the lifetime high of $1,030.80 struck in March.
"It looks like we are getting some kind of recovery. One
might say around $790 is going to provide support on the
downside. I think we need to break that to see a stronger move
lower," said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in Sydney.
"At $790-$800, physical buying seems to be coming in. We've
got immediate resistance coming in around $809 and probably
onwards to target something like $815," he said.
Gold fell as low as $789.05 an ounce on Wednesday, its
weakest in two weeks and near its nine-month low around $773 hit
in mid-August. But demand from India, the world's largest
consumer, and also the Middle East helped stem the fall.
India is stepping up purchases during the festive season,
which peak in October with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
Many marriages also take place during the festive season, when
gold jewellery is an essential part of dowries.
Oil prices were little changed near $109 a barrel on Thursday
as traders weighed concerns over slowing demand from major
consumer countries against further hurricane threats to the U.S.
oil sector. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> briefly fell to a two-week low of $1,318
an ounce on Thursday.
Platinum was trading at $1,343.50/1,363.50 an ounce from
$1,377.50/1,397.50 late in New York on Wednesday -- well below
the record high of $2,290 an ounce struck in March.
The benchmark contract on Tokyo platinum futures, August 2009
<JPLc6>, fell on speculative sales amid rumours that automakers
are selling back their platinum stocks due to poor sales.
"If demand for cars is not good because of a slowdown in the
global economy, automakers may be required to cut their stocks,"
said a dealer in Hong Kong. "We also see some long liquidation in
the market."
U.S. auto sales fell 15.5 percent to 1.25 million units or to
a seasonally adjusted, annualised rate of 13.72 million units in
August, marking the 10th straight month of declining sales in the
U.S. auto market -- the longest such downturn since the 2001
recession. []
Autocatalysts, used to clean exhaust fumes, account for more
than half of global platinum use.
The dollar held steady against the euro on Thursday, having
come off an eight-month high hit the previous day as investors
squared positions ahead of an interest rate decision by the
European Central Bank. []
New York gold futures <GCZ8> rose $1.7 an ounce to $809.9 an
ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0614 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 806.05 5.80 +0.72 -3.20
Spot Silver 12.89 0.01 +0.08 -12.73
Spot Platinum 1343.50 -33.00 -2.40 -11.61
Spot Palladium 281.00 -4.50 -1.58 -23.64
TOCOM Gold 2817.00 32.00 +1.15 -7.94 29356
TOCOM Platinum 4645.00 -77.00 -1.63 -13.00 27266
TOCOM Silver 450.20 8.70 +1.97 -16.78 857
TOCOM Palladium 1000.00 -12.00 -1.19 -25.98 722
Euro/Dollar 1.4526
Dollar/Yen 107.96
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Michael Watson)
