* Gold below $800 for first time since December
* Silver tumbles 12 percent, TOCOM gold limit down
(Updates prices to afternoon)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Gold tumbled nearly 3 percent
on Friday and slipped below $800 for the first time since
December, with investors' confidence in precious metals
shattered by falling oil prices and a surging U.S. dollar.
Silver, which normally tracks gold, was the hardest hit,
falling more than 12 percent to its lowest since last
September. Platinum fell 3 percent and palladium was at its
lowest in nearly two years. Tokyo's platinum and gold futures
hit limit down.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit an intraday low of $787.10, its
weakest since late December, down from $811.25/812.65 late in
New York on Thursday and well below an all-time high of
$1,030.80 in March.
"The dollar's continuing uptrend is a key factor depressing
commodities in general and triggering heavy sales in gold,"
said Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and
Securities Ltd in Tokyo.
"Japanese players are dumping their long-term positions
after breaking through key levels this week. The market may be
oversold, but the market is still in a downward trend."
Gold has lost much of this year's gains to profit taking,
oil's declines fromrecord highs and more recently the dollar's
rally against abasket of currencies which reduced the metal's
safe-haven appeal.
"It's still early to say it's the end of the super-cycle
but if the markets continue to fall like they are doing now, I
am sure many people will be talking about it very soon," said
Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"The region around $750 is very important because this is a
long-term gold uptrend support. So, if it's broken, gold's
really gone," he said.
The dollar hit a six-month high against the euro after
data showed the euro zone economy contracted in the second
quarter and U.S. consumer prices rose at a faster pace in July.
[]
"We'll have some people targeting $750, but I think we
would need to see a continuation in that dollar strength to
give it sufficient momentum to head that way," said Darren
Heathcote of Investec Australia in Sydney.
Oil <CLc1> fell more than $1 to below $114 a barrel on
fears about the slowing global economy, with a stronger dollar
also prompting funds to exit. []
The rising dollar has reduced gold's appeal as an
alternative investment while falling oil has diminished the
metal's role as a hedge against inflation.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> fell $16.00 an ounce to
$798.50.
The benchmark contract for June 2009 delivery <0#JAU:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange sank by the daily 150 yen limit to
2,813 yen per gram, its weakest since late November.
Silver <XAG=> fell to $12.63/12.73 an ounce from
$14.15/14.21 late in New York on Thursday.
"Near-term support should be around $12.38 then $12.00s,"
said Koh of Phillip Futures.
"On a more bearish note, we could in fact head all the way
down to $11.50s because the long-term uptrend seems to be
breached as of today's sharp downward movement," he said.
Spot platinum <XPT=> dropped to $1,438.50/1,458.50 an ounce
from $1,481/1,501 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to
$299.00/304.00 an ounce from$306.50/314.50 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0557 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 792.90 -12.70 -1.58 -4.78
Spot Silver 12.61 -1.53 -10.82 -14.62
Spot Platinum 1438.50 -42.50 -2.87 -5.36
Spot Palladium 295.00 -9.50 -3.12 -19.84
TOCOM Gold 2825.00 -138.00 -4.66 -7.68
62420
TOCOM Platinum 5096.00 -300.00 -5.56 -4.55
14401
TOCOM Silver 496.80 -40.00 -7.45 -8.17
225
TOCOM Palladium 1077.00 -90.00 -7.71 -20.28
1061
Euro/Dollar 1.4776
Dollar/Yen 110.24
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in TOKYO; Editing by
Michael Urquhart)
