* Gold finds support after falling near $790 an ounce
* Asian buyers' appetite strong for physical gold on dips
* Tokyo platinum down 6 pct on concerns over demand
(Update prices to late afternoon)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Friday on solid
physical purchases by Asian investors after slipping near $790
an ounce, but the metal stayed under pressure on the dollar's
strength and weaker oil prices.
Investors were also shaken by sharp falls in equities,
prompting them to shift to dollars while pulling funds out of
risky assets, including precious metals, but Asian bargain
hunters were detected buying gold on dips.
"Gold started lower in Asia, falling near $790, but around
the level we are seeing a big amount of physical gold buying
from Asian players," said Yuichi Ikemizu, managing director at
Standard Bank in Tokyo.
By 0604 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was at $798.10/799.30 per
ounce, down from $796.15/797.75 late in New York on Thursday.
It fell as far as $790.35 on Friday.
COMEX gold futures were also off lows after settling down
$5 in New York the previous day. The most active December
contract <GCZ8> was trading at $802.5, down $0.7 or 0.1 percent
from the New York settlement.
The benchmark August 2009 gold contract <0#JAU:> on the
Tokyo Commodity Exchange was trading at 2,750 yen per gram,
down 108 yen or 3.8 percent from Thursday.
Cash gold fell as low as $789.05 on Wednesday, its weakest
in two weeks and near its nine-month low around $773 hit in
mid-August.
Buyers in India, the world's largest consumer, bought in
large volumes on price dips ahead of the peak festive season in
October.
Investment bank UBS, one of the largest gold dealers, said
that over the last two weeks, it had seen its strongest
physical sales in 20 years.
But market participants were keen to see if further bargain
hunting would emerge in the physical market.
Gold prices have been put under pressure, slipping about 5
percent over the past week, reflecting the strength of the
dollar and plunges in oil prices.
The dollar rose against the euro <EUR=> after U.S. service
sector data came in stronger than forecast, then extended its
gains after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet
said the euro zone was in a period of weak economic activity.
Oil prices fell below $108 on Friday after dropping nearly
8 percent this week. []
"Investors are extremely careful about taking new risk
positions, including oil and commodities, while funds are
shifting into the dollar," said Tatsuo Kageyama, a market
analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management.
"It could take a while before the market can fully restore
their confidence to shift back their positions into
commodities," Kageyama said.
Platinum dropped as lingering concerns over demand for
autocatalysts due to news of poor car sales in the United
States prompted investment funds to sell.
Platinum faced speculative sales amid talk that carmakers
were selling their holdings back to the market due to poor
sales.
U.S. auto sales results announced earlier in the week
showed they fell 15.5 percent to 1.25 million units or to a
seasonally adjusted, annualised rate of 13.72 million units in
August.
This marks the 10th straight month of declining sales in
the U.S. auto market -- the longest such downturn since the
2001 recession.
The benchmark TOCOM platinum contract for August 2009
<0#JPL:> was trading at 4,670 yen a gram, down 242 yen or 4.9
percent from Thursday.
At one point during the day, the platinum contract fell by
the daily 300 yen limit, or 6.1 percent, to 4,612 yen.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $1,373.50/1,393.50 an ounce,
down from $1,391.50/1,411.50 in New York. Palladium <XPD=> was
little changed at $281.50/289.50 an ounce from late New York.
Silver <XAG=> rose to $12.77/12.82 an ounce from
$12.74/12.80 late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0604 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 797.70 3.15 +0.40 -4.20
Spot Silver 12.78 0.04 +0.31 -13.47
Spot Platinum 1373.50 -16.50 -1.19 -9.64
Spot Palladium 281.50 -0.50 -0.18 -23.51
TOCOM Gold 2749.00 -109.00 -3.81 -10.16
45768
TOCOM Platinum 4649.00 -263.00 -5.35 -12.92
20124
TOCOM Silver 442.00 -21.10 -4.56 -18.30
743
TOCOM Palladium 988.00 -50.00 -4.82 -26.87
629
Euro/Dollar 1.4297
Dollar/Yen 106.52
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for silver which is in
yen per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
