(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Gold dipped on Friday,
giving up early gains, as oil extended losses and investors
waited to see how the dollar would respond to a meeting by the
Group of Seven finance chiefs later in the day.
In the physical sector, dealers noted light selling from
Indonesia as jewellers cashed in on gold's recent gains.
Platinum and silver fell from Thursday's highs, while palladium
matched a three-week high.
Gold <XAU=> fell to $922.60/923.50 an ounce from
$925.90/926.70 late in New York. Gold jumped to its highest
since March 31 at $939.40 on Thursday before retreating as oil
slipped from record highs and the dollar rebounded.
Gold struck a record of $1,030.80 on March 17 but has since
struggled to sustain the uptrend, with a broad commodities
pullback dragging the price down.
But as fears of inflation linger, gold's appeal as a hedge
has risen, while expectations of further rate cuts in the
United States also make it an attractive choice for investors
seeking an alternative investment, said analysts.
"The basic tone is very strong," said Yukuji Sonoda,
precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo. He
said trade on Friday was muted as investors were waiting for
the outcome of the G7 meeting.
"I personally think gold will go up again to $1,000. Within
six months, $1,100 is possible."
Gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $5.4 an ounce to
$926.4 an ounce.
Metals consultancy GFMS Ltd said this week the factors
supporting prices over the last few months, such as the credit
market crisis, would remain in place and investors would
continue to look at bullion for strong returns. []
The euro firmed to $1.5782 <EUR=> from around $1.5745 in
late U.S. trading on Thursday, but well off a record peak of
$1.5915 hit on electronic trading platform EBS on Thursday.
Oil <CLc1> dipped below $110 a barrel after Saudia Arabia's
comments the markets were well-supplied encouraged investors to
reduce positions. It hit a record high of $112.21 on Wednesday.
Bullion dealers in Tokyo saw buying interest from the
electronic sector but the purchases were not strong enough to
lift gold bars, which were offered at a discount of 25 U.S.
cents an ounce, unchanged from last week <GOLD/ASIA1>.
Premiums for gold bars were steady around 60 U.S cents an
ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore, a centre for
bullion trading in Southeast Asia.
"Indonesia is selling scrap but the amount is very low.
Vietnam is nowhere to be seen after selling aggressively
because of higher prices," said a dealer in Singapore.
"Overall trading is very slow. I guess many people were
caught off guard when the price jumped to around $930 after
falling in reaction to the IMF news."
The International Monetary Fund, the world's third-largest
holder of gold with 3,217.3 tonnes in stocks, said on Monday it
wanted to sell 403.3 tonnes and use the profits to invest in
government and corporate bonds, and possibly equities.
Precious metals prices at 0701 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 923.30 -5.10 -0.55 10.88
Spot Silver 17.88 -0.05 -0.28 21.06
Spot Platinum 2005.00 -19.00 -0.94 31.91
Spot Palladium 460.00 1.50 +0.33 25.00
TOCOM Gold 3046.00 1.00 +0.03 -0.46
45709
TOCOM Platinum 6445.00 -54.00 -0.83 20.72
15169
TOCOM Silver 589.50 -7.10 -1.19 8.96
527
TOCOM Palladium 1538.00 20.00 +1.32 13.84
1752
Euro/Dollar 1.5825
Dollar/Yen 101.80
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
