* Precious metals all fall on worsening confidence reading
* Dollar recovers from 8-week low versus the euro
* South Africa's mining union reaches wage deal
(Updates with New York prices, comment; reledes, changes
headline, byline, dateline; Rewrites throughout.)
By Carole Vaporean and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Gold prices slid to a
12-day low, following a 2 percent slide in oil prices and 1
percent loss in U.S. equity indexes, as investors grabbed
profits when a weak U.S. confidence reading suggested consumer
demand would languish for some time to come.
Other precious metals, which rose to multi-week highs in
early dealings, reversed course to also suffer sharp losses
when investors decided to unload a slew of commodities amid
faltering confidence.
Spot gold <XAU=> slipped to a low of $934.70 an ounce, its
lowest since July 17, to change hands in late New York trade a
bit higher at $936.95 an ounce, down from $953.25 an ounce in
late Monday business.
New York August gold futures <GCQ9> tumbled $14.40, or 1.51
percent, to $939.10 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
August gold's range slipped to a low at $933.80, last seen
on July 17, from a session high at $956.80.
In addition to lower oil and share prices, gold added to
losses when the U.S. dollar rose from its lowest level of the
year against a currency basket. The dollar rebounded as sinking
confidence rekindled worries about the U.S. economic recovery
and increased demand for safe-haven assets. []
Gold, like other dollar-priced commodities, becomes cheaper
for holders of other currencies as the U.S. unit weakens.
"We ran into profit taking. We had a technical failure at
the $956 level. A little bit of dollar strength, a little bit
of stock market weakness, a little bit of crude weakness
cascaded into the tight trailing stops," said Frank McGhee,
head precious metals trader at Integrated Brokerage Services
LLC in Chicago.
"The selling was mostly due to internal market technicals
as opposed to outside macro forces," said McGhee.
McGhee said there were a series of automatic sell orders
bunched up between $942 to $958 an ounce that lead to
accelerated selling in the New York afternoon session.
Crude prices fell 2 percent, denting interest in gold as a
hedge against oil-led inflation. []
In supply news, the South African mineworkers' union told
Reuters it had accepted the latest wage offers from gold and
coal companies, averting a strike in the mining sector. South
Africa is the world's third biggest gold producer.
[]
Smaller platinum group metals (PGMs) palladium and rhodium
upset early gains when investors decided to unload many
commodities across the board.
Palladium <XPD=> climbed to a seven-week high of $263 an
ounce on Tuesday, before falling to $257 an ounce in late New
York business from late Monday's quote at $259.50 an ounce.
Similarly, spot platinum <XPT=> was lower at $1,193 an
ounce by the close of Tuesday versus $1,217 an ounce on
Monday.
Platinum group metals, primarily used in the auto industry
as components in catalytic converters, have suffered from a
slide in auto demand over the last year.
The limp employment outlook in the confidence report
indicated consumers may take their time before rushing to
purchase a new automobile.
Silver <XAG=> fell with gold to $13.70 an ounce by late
Tuesday trade versus $14.02 on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Martina Fuchs; Editing by Christian
Wiessner)
