* Gold near 3-week low on falling oil
* Platinum rebounds from lows but demand fears linger
(Updates prices, adds activity in physical sector)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, July 30 (Reuters) - Gold fell further on
Wednesday, hovering near its lowest level in three weeks after
oil prices extended their slide, but tensions in the Middle
East could spur safe-haven buying at lower levels.
Platinum bounced from lows but fears of falling demand for
autocatalysts from auto makers due to the slowing U.S. economy
and a lack of buying interest from jewellery makers weighed on
sentiment.
Gold <XAU=> dipped to $917.30/918.30 an ounce from
$918.80/920.30 an ounce late in New York. It fell as low as
$913.80 an ounce on Tuesday, its weakest since July 8, also
driven by rebounding stocks and a firmer U.S. dollar.
"As long as the Iran issue is not settled, gold and oil
prices will not decrease too much. For gold, $900 is the bottom
price at this moment," said Yukuji Sonoda, analyst at Daiichi
Commodities in Tokyo.
Iran's president called on Tuesday for developing nations
to unite against what he said was bias by the U.N. Security
Council, which the Islamic Republic accuses of siding with the
West in a nuclear row. []
The United States and Israel have not ruled out military
action if the Iran nuclear row cannot be resolved by diplomacy.
Dealers noted early selling from Japanese investors but
short covering as well as light buying from jewellery makers in
other parts of Asia helped bullion rebound from early lows.
"Upside potential remainsthis week to try $935 or higher
price levels," said William Kwan, bullion director at Gold
Capital Management in Singapore.
"Gold and silver hit a low of $914 and $17.04 and buying
interest quickly emerged asbuyers find the price to be a fair
value to golong just above round number supports of $900 and
$17," he said.
Oil <CLc1> eased 11 cents to $122.08 a barrel, well below a
record of $147.27 hit on July 11, as OPEC signalled no
production cuts and the dollar gained against other currencies.
[]
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,739.00/1,759.50 an ounce
from $1,735.50/1,755.50 late in New York -- far off a record
high of $2,290 hit in March.
Despite lower prices, manufacturers in China and Japan were
not too keen to buy because of high inventories blamed on
unsold jewellery, said Sonoda of Daiichi Commodities.
"They are not in a position to buy. They also presume the
price will decrease further," said Sonoda, who pegged support
at $1,650 an ounce.
China's platinum imports dropped more than 4 percent to
15,871 kilograms in January to June 2008 compared with the same
period last year, official customs figures show. China is the
world's largest platinum jewellery consumer.
New York gold futures <GCQ8> added $0.50 to $917 an ounce.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the morning
session 26 yen per gram lower at 3,215 yen.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $381.00/386.00 an ounce from
$380.00/388.00 late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged down to
$17.28/17.35 an ounce from $17.32/17.38.
Precious metals prices at 0331 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 917.10 0.25 +0.03 10.14
Spot Silver 17.28 -0.03 -0.17 16.99
Spot Platinum 1737.50 -4.50 -0.26 14.31
Spot Palladium 381.00 -1.00 -0.26 3.53
TOCOM Gold 3215.00 -26.00 -0.80 5.07
16627
TOCOM Platinum 6012.00 7.00 +0.12 12.61
11011
TOCOM Silver 607.40 -4.40 -0.72 12.27
818
TOCOM Palladium 1351.00 -17.00 -1.24 0.00
717
Euro/Dollar 1.5588
Dollar/Yen 107.90
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
