(Adds closing in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Gold roared to another
record on Thursday and held within sight of the next target of
$1,000 an ounce, as the dollar struck an all-time low against
the euro and oil stood near $105 a barrel.
Silver struck a 27-year high on speculative buying,
platinum was below an historical high, New York's COMEX futures
held near records around $995 an ounce, and Tokyo's platinum
futures hit a new peak before ending lower on profit taking.
Spot gold <XAU=> jumped as high as $991.90 an ounce, mainly
driven by speculative buying, up from $985.70/986.50 late in
New York on Wednesday.
Trading was volatile on Thursday, with early selling
dragging down the price to as low as $983.90 an ounce before
speculative buying accelerated on dollar weakness, and pushed
the price to new highs.
"The market is nervous. We don't see any physical buying,"
said Ellison Chu, senior manager at Standard Bank London in
Hong Kong.
"Some people expect it to touch $1,000 soon on gold, but
some also expect a big correction soon. It's mixed," said Chu,
referring to current market sentiment.
Gold has gained as much as 19 percent in 2008 as funds,
speculators and investors pour money into precious metals on
expectation of further interest rate cuts in the United States
and record-high oil, which lift its safe-haven appeal.
"There is psychological resistance at $1,000, but it's a
matter of time to see gold break through that level," said
Shuji Sugata, manager Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities
Ltd.
Crude oil <CLc1> held steady on Thursday at $104.40 a
barrel, after hitting a record near $105 a barrel the previous
day, aided by OPEC's decision to keep output levels unchanged
and U.S. government data showing a surprise drop in crude
inventories. []
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.8 to
$991.3 an ounce, near its record high of $995.20 hit on
Wednesday.
"It's difficult to say at this juncture if we will touch
the $1,000 mark. I guess it really depends on how long oil
prices remain above $100," said Darren Heathcote of Investec
Australia.
The dollar fell to a record low against a basket of major
currencies as weak U.S. service sector and employment data kept
alive fears of a recession.
The dollar hit an all-time low against a trade-weighted
basket of major currencies, with the dollar index falling as
low as 73.192 <.DXY>.
Silver <XAG=> hit an intraday high of $21.18 an ounce, its
best level since Oct. 1980, up from $20.61/20.66 an ounce late
in New York as a tumbling dollar spurred another round of
speculative buying.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $2,235/2,245 an ounce from
$2,240/2,247 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $548/552
an ounce from $552/556 an ounce.
The most active platinum contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange <0#JPL:>, currently February 2009, hit a new record at
7,427 yen per gram before ending 20 yen per gram lower at 7,307
yen.
Precious metals prices at 0854 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 990.90 2.80 +0.28 19.00
Spot Silver 21.15 0.41 +1.98 43.20
Spot Platinum 2243.00 3.00 +0.13 47.57
Spot Palladium 549.00 -3.00 -0.54 49.18
TOCOM Gold 3315.00 70.00 +2.16 8.33
85182
TOCOM Platinum 7307.00 -20.00 -0.27 36.86
31670
TOCOM Silver 700.00 40.00 +6.06 29.39
2445
TOCOM Palladium 1912.00 -39.00 -2.00 41.52
16625
Euro/Dollar 1.5335
Dollar/Yen 103.41
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
Ramthan Hussan)
