* Gold climbs further on oil but resistance levels intact
* Oil firms above $119 on supply fears
* Investors await second-quarter U.S. GDP data
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Gold rose as much as 1.3
percent on Thursday on safe-haven buying as oil continued its
ascent and on a sliding dollar, but it would have to crack key
resistance levels to sustain the uptrend.
Buying from speculators and physical buyers helped push up
bullion, although position squaring could limit gains ahead of
Monday's Labor Day holiday in the United States.
"Gold is still capped by the big resistance at $837, and
above at $846. I don't think much would happen ahead of the
U.S. long holiday weekend," said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scotia
Mocatta in Hong Kong.
Gold <XAU=> firmed to $834.80/835.80 an ounce from
$826.05/827.45 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, having
hit an intraday high of $836.40 an ounce.
Physical buying ahead of the festive season in Asia has
helped gold rebound more than 7 percent since tumbling to
nine-month lows around $773 an ounce in mid-August.
Oil <CLc1> rose for a fourth straight day to above $119 a
barrel on Thursday on fears Tropical Storm Gustav may turn into
a hurricane and hit the Gulf of Mexico, crippling the heart of
U.S. offshore production. []
"Perhaps oil could lead gold higher here, and on the oil
side, I think Gustav is something we should watch. For the
dollar, we will probably have to focus on tonight's U.S. GDP
data for direction," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.
The euro edged up to $1.4756 <EUR=>, recovering from a
six-month low of $1.4570 hit on Tuesday, after comments by a
European Central Bank official the previous day scaled back
speculation about an ECB rate cut. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> slipped to $1,433.50/1,453.50 an ounce
from $1,434.00/1,454.00 late in New York, having hit an
intraday high of $1,442 an ounce.
Higher gold prices had spurred speculative buying in
platinum but investors remained cautious after the metal sank
to an 11-month low around $1,296 last week.
"If platinum can clear the $1,450 level and perhaps make a
move to the $1,500 level, then that scenario may change a
little," said Koh of Phillip Futures.
Automakers were also on the sidelines. A slowing U.S.
economy and poor car sales have sparked worries about falling
demand for autocatalysts, which account for more than 50
percent of global platinum use. The metal was well below a
lifetime high of $2,290 hit in early March.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> said it would miss its goal of
selling more than 10 million vehicles next year, cutting its
forecast by nearly 7 percent due to a downturn in western
markets driven by high fuel prices and a credit crunch.
[]
Spot palladium <XPD=> inched down to $288.00/296.00 an
ounce from $288.50/296.50 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> firmed to
$13.72/13.77 an ounce from $13.49/13.55 an ounce late in New
York.
The new benchmark contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
August 2009 <JAUc6>, rose 12 yen per gram to 2,942 yen per
gram.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $5.5 an ounce to
$839.50.
Precious metals prices at 0742 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 834.55 8.65 +1.05 0.22
Spot Silver 13.73 0.30 +2.23 -7.04
Spot Platinum 1432.00 -1.50 -0.10 -5.79
Spot Palladium 288.00 -0.50 -0.17 -21.74
TOCOM Gold 2945.00 15.00 +0.51 -3.76
31649
TOCOM Platinum 5010.00 10.00 +0.20 -6.16
16948
TOCOM Silver 485.00 -0.60 -0.12 -10.35
918
TOCOM Palladium 1041.00 -7.00 -0.67 -22.95
798
Euro/Dollar 1.4760
Dollar/Yen 108.99
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)
