* Gold inches down as investors book profit
* Platinum rises to 1-month high
* Coming Up: Euro zone Jan retail sales, 1000 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 3 (Reuters) - Gold ticked lower on
Wednesday as speculators booked profits from a rise to a 6-week
high the previous day, but volatility in currencies were likely
to keep the metal's safe-haven appeal intact.
Positive fourth-quarter gross domestic data from Australia
lifted the Australian currency and helped send gold prices to a
high of around $1,136 an ounce before sales of scrap from China
trimmed the gains.
Platinum hit a 1-month high on buying from Japanese
speculators.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,132.85 an ounce by 0251 GMT,
down $1.65 from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it
hit an intraday high of $1,137.35 -- its strongest since Jan.
20. Gold was about 5 percent below record around $1,200 hit in
December.
"I guess the trend is quite bullish but I personally think
the upside for gold is rather limited and we saw some
investment banks bidding on the PGM," said a dealer in Hong
Kong, referring to platinum and palladium.
"I guess the market is still consolidating. There's some
fresh buying in gold but it seems the market can not move up
too high," he added.
Gold priced in sterling and the euro <XAUGBP=R> <XAUEUR=R>
held near lifetime highs struck on Tuesday.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> fell $3.5 an
ounce to $1,133.9 after ending almost 2 percent higher on
Tuesday on currency fluctuations related to Greece's fiscal
crisis and political crisis in Britain. []
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,111.556 tonnes
as of March 2, up 4.569 tonnes from the previous business day.
[]
"Well, currencies are always volatile and the gold price
itself can be volatile," said David Moore, commodities
strategist at CBA in Sydney.
"But I do think that gold is still getting a little bit of
support from safe haven demand on lingering concerns about how
the international economic recovery will proceed, and also the
fact that international interest rates are still quite low."
The euro <EUR=> gained as investors trimmed record short
positions in the single currency after Greek Prime Minister
George Papandreou called a cabinet meeting for Wednesday to
make decisions about the economy. [] []
The pound rose 0.4 percent to $1.5028 <GBP=D4>, recovering
after having been dumped to a 10-month low of $1.4781 on Monday
on worries over a potential hung parliament in Britain.
In other precious metals, silver <XAG=> tracked gold lower,
while platinum <XPT=> hit an intraday high of $1,576.50 an
ounce, its strongest since in early February, as the metal used
in auto catalysts caught up with bullion's recent gains.
General Motors Co [] on Tuesday posted a nearly 12
percent gain in U.S. February sales, boosted by a doubling in
sales to fleet operators and relatively strong demand for newer
crossovers like the Chevy Equinox. []
Oil <CLc1> stood steady on Wednesday near $80 a barrel
after a larger-than-expected build in U.S. crude inventories
and a greater-than-forecast drawdown in distillates. []
Precious metals prices at 0251 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1132.85 -1.65 -0.15 3.39
Spot Silver 16.88 -0.04 -0.24 0.30
Spot Platinum 1573.50 7.00 +0.45 7.26
Spot Palladium 441.75 2.75 +0.63 8.94
TOCOM Gold 3241.00 20.00 +0.62 -0.55
39540
TOCOM Platinum 4479.00 36.00 +0.81 2.24
13348
TOCOM Silver 48.80 1.00 +2.09 -5.61
398
TOCOM Palladium 1256.00 4.00 +0.32 7.81
112
Euro/Dollar 1.3628
Dollar/Yen 88.65
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
