(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded on bargain
hunting on Tuesday but held near its lowest in a month, with
its appeal as an alternative investment and a hedge against
inflation shakened by a firming U.S. dollar and sliding crude
oil prices.
Investors were on the sidelines after their confidence was
hit by a recent broad-based sell-off in commodities. Gold has
lost more than 10 percent in value since spiking to a lifetime
high of $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17.
Gold <XAU=> hit a low of $911.50 an ounce before rebounding
to $924.50/925.25 as bargain hunters resurfaced after a long
Easter holiday, up from $920.90/921.70 in New York, but it was
still within sight of last week's one-month low of $904.65.
"If gold were to start heading lower again, say below $900
an ounce, that might create a temporary cycle of further
selling," said David Moore, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia in Sydney.
"As investors' sentiment turned, gold was then especially
vulnerable to that change in sentiment. I think it's difficult
to see which way gold would go in the very short term."
Platinum fell while silver and palladium gained but stayed
below recent highs. Precious metals, oil, grains and other
agricultural products tumbled last week in a wave of selling as
funds cashed out, taking profits at record high prices.
The dollar held onto gains after better-than-expected U.S.
housing data revived optimism towards the world's biggest
economy. The euro hardly changed at $1.5433 <EUR=> -- well
below a record high of $1.5905 hit last week. []
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $6.3 an
ounce to $925.0 an ounce but off a record of $1,033.90 an ounce
hit last week.
"There's a little bit of buying from jewellery makers and
other physical buyers. But I think gold lacks direction and
it's going to trade in a tight range for the time being," said
a dealer in Hong Kong.
Gold bars were offered at a premium of between 10 and 20
U.S. cents an ounce to the spot London prices in Hong Kong,
steady from last week <GOLD/ASIA1>.
Oil <CLc1> fell more than $1 to below $100 a barrel on
Tuesday, extending a 10 percent fall from last week's record on
a build-up in U.S. crude stocks, concerns over slower energy
demand and a dollar. []
"Retail investors are on the sidelines and I believe they
had bought gold when prices crashed last week. There's heavy
stop-loss order around $903 to $906. If the stops are
exercised, prices will go down below $900," said a dealer in
Singapore.
"But it maybe short-lived. A firm support for gold would
come from the weekly moving average at $880, while for silver,
the support level is at $16.80 an ounce," he said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,870/1,880 an ounce from
$1,880/1,890 an ounce late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
rose to $433/438 an ounce from $427/432 an ounce.
The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> rose 9 yen
per gram at 5,887 yen after hitting a high of 5,906 yen on a
weaker yen.
Silver <XAG=> rose to $17.46/17.51 an ounce from
$16.95/17.00 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0405 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 924.25 9.55 +1.04 10.99
Spot Silver 17.46 0.48 +2.83 18.21
Spot Platinum 1870.00 -10.00 -0.53 23.03
Spot Palladium 433.00 6.00 +1.41 17.66
TOCOM Gold 3010.00 33.00 +1.11 -1.63
33848
TOCOM Platinum 5884.00 6.00 +0.10 10.21
9766
TOCOM Silver 569.00 10.00 +1.79 5.18
1096
TOCOM Palladium 1441.00 22.00 +1.55 6.66
2980
Euro/Dollar 1.5540
Dollar/Yen 100.34
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
