* Gold reclaims $1,000 an ounce as dollar falls
* India gold imports up from August, down from last year
* Profit-taking remains concern in near term
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity to close; adds
second byline, dateline, previously LONDON)
By Frank Tang and Rebekah Curtis
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Gold reclaimed $1,000
an ounce on Wednesday, rising 1.5 percent as a weaker dollar
helped lift the precious metal to its best quarterly
performance since early 2008.
Crude oil's rally and simmering geopolitical tensions in
the Middle East also supported gold, analysts said.
Mihir Dange, a COMEX gold floor trader, cited quarter-end
and month-end position squaring for gold's strength. He said
the finish above $1,000 signaled gold futures could go higher.
U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> settled up $14.90, or 1.5
percent, at $1,009.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,006.90 at 3:55 p.m. EDT (1955
GMT), compared with $990.70 quoted late in New York on
Tuesday.
Bullion has risen about 7.6 percent in the past three
months while the dollar has shed more than 4 percent.
After its best quarterly performance since the first
quarter of last year, gold has gained around 14 percent so far
this year, bolstered by technical momentum and concerns about
potential inflation.
Gold got a boost from a sliding dollar on Wednesday as
investors put cash to work after U.S. data suggested the
world's biggest economy was recovering from recession. []
But analysts warned that gold could see sharp pullbacks before
it tests the March 2008 record high at $1,030.80.
"A lot of what we've seen today is tied to the dollar
weakening, but gold is still vulnerable," said Calyon metals
analyst Robin Bhar, also noting poor physical market activity
and flows of scrap gold.
"This suggests we need to come back and explore the
downside again," he added.
Speculative positioning is a concern, with record long
positions on the U.S. COMEX gold futures market for three
consecutive weeks.
INDIA IMPORTS SUBDUED
India's gold imports in September were provisionally around
35-40 tonnes, up from August but down by more than a quarter
from 54 tonnes a year ago, the head of the Bombay Bullion
Association said. []
The physical market is gathering some support in India as
jewelry demand picks up in the run-up to the festive period,
but current prices are a stumbling block.
"Gold is hardly cheap at the moment. We expect scale-down
Indian demand should gold correct further, but very strong
buying would probably require a gold price close to $900/oz,"
UBS metals analyst John Reade said.
Among other precious metals silver <XAG=> traded at $16.61
from $16.11, platinum <XPT=> was at $1,298 from $1,267 and
palladium <XPD=> traded at $294 from its previous finish of
$285.
Close Change Pct 2008 YTD
Chg Close % Chg
US gold <GCZ9> 1009.30 14.9 1.5 884.3 14.1
US silver <SIZ9> 16.658 0.480 3.0 11.295 47.5
US platinum <PLF0> 1302.90 24.70 1.9 941.50 38.4
US palladium <PAZ9> 299.20 9.20 3.2 188.70 58.6
Prices at 3:54 p.m. EDT (1954 GMT)
Gold <XAU=> 1006.45 15.75 1.6 878.20 14.6
Silver <XAG=> 16.60 0.49 3.0 11.30 46.9
Platinum <XPT=> 1296.50 29.50 2.3 924.50 40.2
Palladium <XPD=> 294.00 9.000 3.2 184.50 59.3
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 995.75 -5.50 -0.5 836.50 19.0
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 16.45 0.00 0.0 14.76 11.4
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1287.00 4.00 0.3 1529 -15.8
Palladium Fix<XPDFIX=> 294.00 3.00 1.0 365.0 -19.5
(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown in London)
