* Lack of fresh gold factors confines price to range
* SPDR Gold holdings steady <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday to trade around
$950 on strong oil prices, which fanned worries about inflation,
while platinum eased a touch in defiance of news of a mine strike
in South Africa.
Bullion, which has has been trading in a narrow range of
around $940-$955 this week, was down about 0.4 percent from last
week's close.
"It is confined within ranges ... being bought on inflation
concerns and sold when there are no fresh factors," said Kazuhiko
Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Co Ltd.
Strong oil prices typically boost gold, which is widely seen
as an inflation hedge.
He added that the dollar's weakness versus the euro was also
providing support, although gold's reaction to the currency
market during Asian business hours appeared to have dulled
somewhat this week.
Gold <XAU=> was at $949.05 per ounce at 0238 GMT, up 0.2
percent from the New York notional close of $946.75.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were at
$950.6, up 0.35 percent.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> extended gains towards $73 a barrel on
Friday helped by a late rebound on Wall Street and a weaker
dollar. It remains close to the 10-month high of $75 touched this
week. []
The dollar was broadly weaker on Friday after being
aggressively sold-off in the previous session. []
Interest in gold-backed exchange-traded funds remained
lacklustre.
The world's largest gold-backed ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust
<GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,061.83 tonnes as of Aug. 27,
unchanged from the previous business day. []
Saito said gold lacked fresh factors distinct to the metal,
which was one reason why traders were eagerly waiting the release
of August gold import data from India, a large consumer of the
precious metal.
"Some traders are hoping this will show strong figures," he
said.
India gold traders were looking for bargains in the gold
market this week in anticipation of festival demand.
[]
Firm gold prices and the economic slump have caused India's
imports for the first-half of the calendar year to decline 54
percent.
In other metals, the world's largest silver-backed
exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its
bullion holdings as of Aug. 27 fell 82.6 tonnes or 0.9 percent
from the previous business day to 8,742.07 tonnes. []
Platinum inched down after rising in the previous session on
news that South Africa's Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J> said it could
sack thousands of striking workers in a wage dispute that
threatened to spread further.
The world's No. 2 platinum miner said it would not agree to
union demands for a 14 percent pay rise.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,232.50 per ounce down from
$1,240.50.
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0236 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 949.40 2.65 +0.28 7.87
Spot Silver 14.34 0.10 +0.70 26.68
Spot Platinum 1232.50 -8.00 -0.64 32.24
Spot Palladium 284.50 0.50 +0.18 54.20
TOCOM Gold 2868.00 9.00 +0.31 11.47 22258
TOCOM Platinum 3719.00 0.00 +0.00 40.23 6544
TOCOM Silver 432.50 5.70 +1.34 35.45 84
TOCOM Palladium 865.00 5.00 +0.58 57.27 191
Euro/Dollar 1.4368
Dollar/Yen 93.63
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Joseph Radford)
