(Corrects palladium milestone throughout to strongest level in
nearly 2 years)
* Gold firmer on euro, palladium near highest in almost 2
yrs
* Gold in euro within sight of record
* Coming Up: U.S. employment trend index for Feb, 1500 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on Monday
after a firmer euro spurred bargain hunting from investors
seeking a safe haven from volatile currencies, while palladium
held near its strongest level in nearly two years.
A steady increase in ETF holdings showed a growing interest
in bullion but the physical market was muted in Asia, with
dealers reporting persistent sales of scrap from Indonesia.
Gold priced in euro <XAUEUR=R> was within sight of Friday's
record.
Gold <XAU=> traded as high as $1,136.85 an ounce and was at
$1,133.97 by 0317 GMT, steady from New York's notional close on
Friday, when bullion in euro terms jumped to a record at 838.26
euros on buying driven by a sovereign debt crisis in Greece.
"We started on a weaker note but the market then recovered
because of a firmer euro. It's sporadic buying, although I
don't think it's coming from the physical market," said a
dealer in Hong Kong, referring to gold jewellers.
"People think the price of palladium is cheaper than the
other industrial metals, that's why the price has gone up.
Also, palladium is a very thin market. It's driven by fund
buying because fundamentals are good," he added.
Palladium <XPD=> added $2.75 an ounce to $473.75, having
risen to around $475 on Friday, its strongest since June 2008,
on optimism about global autocatalyst demand and possible
near-term tightness.
"We've been seeing good demand from the autocatalyst sector
recently. People have shifted to using more palladium in diesel
and gasoline engines, and the price is cheaper than platinum,"
said a dealer in Tokyo.
"The industry has used up the stocks they bought in 2008
before the credit crunch," said the dealer, referring to
turmoil in the financial markets that pummelled the auto
sector.
Sister metal platinum <XPT=> rose $8.50 an ounce to
$1,578.00 an ounce.
The euro <EUR=> was higher on the U.S. dollar, edging up to
$1.3635 from $1.3611 late in New York, helped at the margins by
growing support for debt-laden Greece. []
In a bid to calm markets, French President Nicolas Sarkozy
promised Greece on Sunday that euro zone countries would help
it overcome its financial problems and vowed a crack down on
financial speculators Athens blames for its woes.
[]
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> was unchanged
at $1,135.2 an ounce.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,116.120 tonnes
as of March 5, up 0.609 tonnes from the previous business day.
[]
Jewellers were on the sidelines in Asia, and demand from
main consumer India has yet to pick up ahead of April's busy
wedding season.
"Physical markets are still lackluster with limited buying
emerging on dips below $1,100," said Pradeep Unni, senior
analyst at Richcomm Global Services.
"What we understand from the steady feedback from the
jewellery industry is that this rise isn't in any way due to
jewellery-related buying," he added.
Oil extended gains toward $82 a barrel on Monday, buoyed by
a weaker dollar and signs of an economic recovery in top oil
consumer the United States. Traders say currency movements
could dominate oil prices as demand strength stays unclear
during the recovery. []
Precious metals prices at 0317 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1133.97 0.17 +0.01 3.49
Spot Silver 17.37 0.05 +0.29 3.21
Spot Platinum 1578.00 8.50 +0.54 7.57
Spot Palladium 473.75 2.75 +0.58 16.83
TOCOM Gold 3304.00 42.00 +1.29 1.38
46400
TOCOM Platinum 4568.00 65.00 +1.44 4.27
12559
TOCOM Silver 51.00 1.20 +2.41 -1.35
751
TOCOM Palladium 1373.00 51.00 +3.86 17.85
426
Euro/Dollar 1.3687
Dollar/Yen 90.38
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
