* Gold rises in thin post Easter trade as dollar falls
* Platinum group metals rise on Chinese demand optimism
* China's lending program seen bullish to PGMs
(Recasts, updates with quotes, closing prices)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - Gold futures ended higher on
Monday after a brief move above $900 an ounce in thin holiday
trade Monday while platinum rose to a near 7-month high on fund
buying and signs of recovering Chinese demand.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> settled up
$12.50, or 1.4 percent, at $895.80 an ounce on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The June contract topped out at $901.20, its highest price
since April 3.
Trading volume remained thin as markets in the United
Kingdom and most European countries, Australia and Hong Kong
remained shut on Monday in observance of Easter.
Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $891.65 at 2:58 p.m. EDT (1958
GMT), up 1.3 percent from its late Friday quote of $880.65 in
New York.
A weaker dollar versus the euro supported gold as Monday's
initial decline on Wall Street stirred safe-haven buying in the
yellow metal. U.S. stocks, however, recouped losses in the
afternoon.
Firmness in bullion also reflected caution over U.S.
corporate earnings, which get into full swing later this week,
traders said.
"Physical demand in the key demand centers, especially
Dubai and India, have started to show marginal recovery as gold
prices have steadied ... Dips are likely to be used as buying
opportunities," said Pradeep Unni, trader at Richcomm Global
Services.
However, one floor trader said that gold could give up
gains if the stock markets continued to trend higher, which
would erode flight-to-quality demand in gold.
"Given that India has refrained from buying even the
smallest sums of gold in recent months, and given further that
the IMF seems to be intent upon selling gold, our propensity
shall likely be as a seller of gold should the spot trade to
$897-901 in the next several days," Dennis Gartman, independent
commodities investor, told his clients in his daily note.
CHINA DEMAND STIRS PLATINUM GROUP METALS
Meanwhile, industrial metals led by copper jumped on Monday
after China's Premier Wen Jiabao said the country's economy is
in a better shape than expected with March industrial output
growth exceeding forecasts. []
China also said new lending and money supply growth both
surged to record highs in March as banks expanded their credit
to rejuvenate the economy. []
Ralph D'Esposito, a NYMEX floor trader, said that China's
latest move would boost its farming sector and stimulate
platinum demand from growing production of minivans and light
trucks.
Platinum and palladium are employed as autocatalysts to
clean exhaust fumes from tailpipes of vehicles.
D'Esposito also cited strong technical buying from
investment funds because of sharply higher spreads between
platinum and gold prices.
"It looks like the funds are buying platinum and selling
gold. (Traders) have to follow their lead at the moment,"
D'Esposito said.
Platinum <XPT=> was at 1,235.00 an ounce, up 2.5 percent
from its last Friday quote of $1,204.50. Platinum hit a session
high $1,244 an ounce, which marked the loftiest level since
Sept. 23.
Palladium <XPD=> traded at $237.50 an ounce, up 1.7 percent
from its Friday close of $233.50.
Silver <XAG=> was at $12.67 an ounce, up about 3 percent
from it previous finish of $12.32
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda and Miho Yoshikawa in
Tokyo; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
