* Gold slips as profit takers fear levels near record high
* SPDR gold ETF reports 7.628 tonne inflow
* Silver, platinum, palladium hit multi-month highs
(Adds late prices, comment; changes byline, dateline, rewrites
throughout.)
By Carole Vaporean and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Gold closed lower on
Thursday on profit-taking following an early rise to fresh
18-month highs, but dealers were confident the battered U.S.
dollar would continue to underpin and further gold's advance.
"People got kind of tired pushing towards the highs. What I
would add to that is the weakness in the stock market. After
the Philadelphia Fed number had some disappointing components
to it, stocks fell off their highs and gold peaked at the same
time," said Tom Pawlicki, precious metals analyst at MF GLOBAL
in Chicago.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,013.95 an ounce at 1509 EDT
(1909 GMT) compared with $1,016.70 late in New York on
Wednesday, having earlier hit an 18-month high of $1,023.85.
In New York, December gold futures <GCZ9> were down $6.70
to settle at $1,013.50 an ounce on the COMEX division of the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
Early in the session, the contract rose to $1,025.80 an
ounce, a fresh high last visited in July 2008.
Despite the dollar's renewed declines to its lowest level
in nearly a year against the euro [], gold remained at
lower levels into the futures close.
U.S. stocks also fell, weighed down as investors paused
following a three-day run-up, triggering losses in gold. []
Gold prices were stuck in a fairly narrow band, however,
and found support at session lows.
"There may be some speculation that the dollar is going to
continue to fall for the rest of this year and early next year
... that could mean a drift higher for gold," said Pawlicki.
Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg also said as long as
dollar weakness persisted, gold's run higher is likely.
"It is realistic that we will see (the record high) in the
course of the next couple of days, and should that fall,
probably even more speculative money will flow into the
market," he said. "Momentum is very strong and positive."
Despite overbought conditions, sentiment remained firm,
with most still expecting gold to break through its record high
of $1,030.80 an ounce.
But some dealers were wary about the extent of speculative
positioning on the U.S. COMEX futures market, with stretched
conditions leaving the market vulnerable to sharp losses.
On COMEX, players were keeping watch on the $1,033.90 per
ounce prior record high on COMEX gold's continuation chart.
"The feeling in the market is that everyone is so long, how
much further can we go? It really is tracking the dollar," said
Tom Kendall, analyst at Mitsubishi in London.
"Gold is a very technically traded commodity and so
everyone will be looking at that $1,030 mark," Citigroup
analyst David Thurtell told Reuters Television. "If that
breaks, who knows where it could go."
Renewed optimism over the economic outlook is boosting
interest in assets seen as higher risk, including some
commodities, equities and higher-yielding foreign exchange.
Global equities hit their highest in 11 months on Thursday.
[]
INFLOWS RESUME
Exchange-traded funds bought more gold on Wednesday, with
New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> reporting inflows of 7.628
tonnes. ETF Securities reported inflows of just over 12,000
ounces into its gold-backed products on Wednesday. []
ETF buying was a key factor driving gold above $1,000 an
ounce in the first quarter of 2009, but inflows have tailed off
sharply since then and, while firmer, remain comparatively
soft.
Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium hit
their highest levels since September 2008 and silver hit a
13-month peak, because of a better industrial output outlook.
Silver <XAG=> hit a peak of $17.63 as base metals took on a
firmer tone. Silver is widely used in industries such as
electronics manufacturing, as well as being an investment
metal. []
The ratio of gold to silver has fallen to 58.4 from around
64.5 a month ago.
Spot silver <XAG=> was bid at $17.26 an ounce against
$17.35 on Wednesday. Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,341.50 an
ounce against $1,344.50, having touched a 12-month high of
$1,348, while palladium <XPD=> rose to $301.0 from $296.00.
ETF Securities said it saw an inflow of more than 8,500
ounces into its platinum-backed ETC <PHPT.L> on Wednesday.
Close Change Pct 2008 YTD
Chg Close % Chg
US gold <GCZ9> 1013.50 -6.7 -0.7 884.3 14.6
US silver <SIZ9> 17.265 -0.165 -0.9 11.295 52.9
US platinum <PLV9> 1341.50 -8.60 -0.6 941.50 42.5
US palladium <PAZ9> 305.75 5.25 1.7 188.70 62.0
Prices at 3:03 p.m. EDT (1903 GMT)
Gold <XAU=> 1015.30 -1.40 -0.1 878.20 15.6
Silver <XAG=> 17.30 -0.05 -0.3 11.30 53.1
Platinum <XPT=> 1335.50 -9.00 -0.7 924.50 44.5
Palladium <XPD=> 301.00 5.000 1.7 184.50 63.1
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1018.50 -2.00 -0.2 836.50 21.8
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 17.38 9.00 0.5 14.76 17.8
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1336.00 7.00 0.5 1529 -12.6
Palladium Fix<XPDFIX=> 299.00 0.00 0.0 365.0 -18.1
(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown; Editing by Sue Thomas
and Christian Wiessner)
