* Gold up 1 pct in early trade, PGMs fall
* Coming Up: Japan consumer confidence Feb 2011; 0500 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
SINGAPORE, March 14 (Reuters) - Gold rose about 1 percent on
Monday as Japan battled to prevent a nuclear catastrophe after a
massive earthquake and tsunami, although declines in equities
markets could also prompt investors to sell bullion to cover
losses.
A badly wounded nation has seen whole villages and towns
wiped off the map by a wall of water, bringing in its wake an
international humanitarian effort of epic scale. More than
10,000 people are feared to have been killed.
"Some investors expect some of the Japanese insurance
companies to start selling their dollar assets to raise money.
Perhaps gold could be boosted as an alternative currency
itself," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures
in Singapore.
"In the short term, I think gold prices will head up due to
a flight to safety and investors seeking out a safe haven."
Spot gold added $9.60 to $1,427.30 an ounce by 0134
GMT after rising as high as $1,431.89 an ounce -- still off a
record high of $1,444.40 hit last week.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings edged down to 1,215.475
tonnes by March 11, their lowest since May 2010, from 1,217.295
tonnes on March 7, as some investors booked profits from gold's
rise to a record.
U.S. gold futures for April rose $6.2 an ounce to
$1,428.0 an ounce.
Silver tracked gold higher, while platinum and
palladium dropped on declines in equities.
Japan's equity futures fell 6 percent on Monday as investors
took stock of the economic damage from the massive earthquake
and tsunami that devastated the country's northeastern region.
The yen also slid against the dollar, reversing earlier
gains in a volatile morning in which dealers were cautious about
being able to settle trades in thin trading conditions.
Brent crude fell more than $1 on Monday to below $113 on
investor pessimism that economic growth will slow in the wake of
Japan's earthquake and tsunami, while easing unrest in the
Middle East threw the focus back onto ample oil supplies.
Precious metals prices 0134 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1427.30 9.60 +0.68 0.55
Spot Silver 36.32 0.49 +1.37 17.69
Spot Platinum 1751.74 -26.76 -1.50 -0.89
Spot Palladium 755.50 -1.50 -0.20 -5.50
TOCOM Gold 3786.00 -7.00 -0.18 1.53 36697
TOCOM Platinum 4690.00 -118.00 -2.45 -0.13 14731
TOCOM Silver 95.10 2.00 +2.15 17.41 1690
TOCOM Palladium 2011.00 -43.00 -2.09 -4.10 557
Euro/Dollar 1.3939
Dollar/Yen 82.19
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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