* Strong dollar dents buying of gold as currency hedge
* Oil holds near $122 a barrel, down $25 from record
* Standard Chartered cuts platinum forecast as fears ease
(Recasts, updates throughout, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Gold slipped in Europe on Monday
as the dollar held near a one-month high against a basket of
currencies, denting the precious metal's appeal as an
alternative investment, and oil prices languished.
Sentiment is cautious ahead of key U.S. data releases later
this week, especially Friday's non-farms payrolls data, which is
expected to lend fresh direction to trade.
Gold <XAU=> dipped to $910.00/911.00 an ounce at 0944 GMT
from $918.80/920.30 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday, when
it fell as low as$913.80 an ounce, its weakest since July 8.
"Gold is primarily taking its cue from currency movements
and oil price movements, as well as the stock markets," said
Barclays Capital analyst Suki Cooper.
"If we see some sharp moves there, we could seee a pick-up
in gold prices, but otherwise, ahead of Friday's data releases,
we might see quite rangebound action."
The dollar is holding near the one-month high it hit on
Tuesday against a basket of currencies. Gold typically moves in
the opposite direction to the greenback, as it is often bought
as a hedge against currency weakness. []
The dollar has been boosted by a fall in oil prices and a
rise in the equity markets, both of which are also pressuring
gold.
European shares rose on Wednesday, mirroring a strong
session in Asia, amid strong results from industrials and
cheaper oil. []
Traders will be closely watching the crude market later in
the session, amid expectations prices could fall further after
U.S. stockpile data is released at 1430 GMT.
"Prices have become increasingly vulnerable to oil price
movements, which could see gold trade erratically throughout the
day as investors watch oil," said Standard Bank analyst Manqoba
Madinane.
Oil is trading just above $122 a barrel, down around $25
from the record high it hit earlier this month. []
PLATINUM LANGUISHES
Platinum prices languished on Wednesday as the market feared
the outlook for the global economy and soaring oil prices would
threaten demand for cars.
Around half of global platinum supply is consumed by
carmakers, who use the precious metal in autocatalysts.
Standard Bank <STAN.L> cut its platinum price forecast on
Wednesday, saying it now sees the metal trading at an average
$1,750 an ounce in the fourth quarter and $1,675 in 2009,
against previous forecasts of $2,050 and $2,105 respectively.
The bank said while it had expected to see fresh power
outages from electricity company Eskom over the South African
winter, these had not materialised.
Generating problems in the republic earlier this year helped
push platinum prices to an all-time high.
In other supply news, mining group Xstrata <XTA.L> said it
achieved record platinum output in the first half of 2008.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was little changed at
$1,740.00/1,760.50 an ounce from $1,735.50/1,755.50 late in New
York -- far off a record high of $2,290 hit in March.
Among other precious metals, spot palladium <XPD=> was flat
at $380.00/388.00, while silver <XAG=> slipped to $17.14/17.20
an ounce from $17.32/17.38.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Michael Roddy)
