(Adds closing in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed on
Wednesday, treading a familiar range as bargain hunting and a
renewed decline in the U.S. dollar offset pressure from rising
stock markets.
Gold <XAU=> hit a high of $974.90 an ounce before dipping
to $970.50/971.40 an ounce, barely changed from $971.00/971.80
late in New York on Tuesday.
Gold fell as low as $964.35 an ounce a day ago when the
dollar rallied after global central banks announced plans to
boost liquidity in financial markets. Other precious metals
remained below their recent highs.
Gold has now fallen more than 2 percent since it spiked to
a lifetime high of $991.90 on March 6, but dealers said record
high oil prices and expectations of further interest rate cuts
in the United States were keeping further losses at bay.
"I think we are still talking about $1,000 sometime this
year. There are so many bulls in the market," said Ronald
Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"We can say the market is consolidating. There's a bit of
bargain hunting but I think investors really don't know what to
do,"said Leung, referring to price volatility.
Gold is still up nearly 17 percent since the start of the
year, a rally that has dimmed physical buying in big Asian
centres, although this week's consolidation around the $970 an
ounce level has stirred demand from jewellers in Thailand and
investors in Vietnam looking for a hedge against inflation.
"I guess gold refuses to head lower. It tried the $960
levels but then physical buyers appeared. But it looks like
gold is stuck at the moment until the big boys decide to lead
the way," said a dealer in Singapore.
The dollar eased on Wednesday after rebounding from record
lows against the euro the previous day when the Federal
Reserve's steps to boost banking system liquidity raised hopes
for a recovery in credit markets. []
The Fed's move sparked a rally in stock markets, with
Japanese stocks <> jumping more than 3 percent at one
point. []
In theory, rising stock markets and a firmer dollar
diminish gold's appeal as an alternative investment.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $2,008/2,018 an ounce from
$2,050/2,060 late in New York -- off a record high of $2,290
hit on March 4 as speculators booked profits on news that
miners in main producer South Africa would get more supply.
"Platinum is now in a correction phase after seeing massive
fund inflows, but the long-term trend for the market is still
bullish as concerns over supplies stay," said Hiroyuki
Kikukawa, an analyst at IDO Securities in Tokyo.
But Tokyo platinum futures shrugged off a weak cash market
and jumped more than 3 percent after the yen erased some gains
against the dollar.
The benchmark platinum futures contract for February
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended 82 yen
per gram higher at 6,491 yen but off an intraday high of 6,649
yen.
Both cash and Tokyo platinum futures have rallied to record
highs on supply fears after an electricity shortage disrupted
mining in South Africa.
Spot platinum has risen as much as 50 percent in 2008.
Precious metals prices at 0834 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 970.20 -2.80 -0.29 16.51
Spot Silver 19.46 -0.19 -0.97 31.75
Spot Platinum 2008.00 -42.00 -2.05 32.11
Spot Palladium 480.00 -6.00 -1.23 30.43
TOCOM Gold 3242.00 24.00 +0.75 5.95
57486
TOCOM Platinum 6491.00 82.00 +1.28 21.58
25058
TOCOM Silver 649.20 -2.80 -0.43 20.00
1456
TOCOM Palladium 1624.00 12.00 +0.74 20.21
13657
Euro/Dollar 1.5367
Dollar/Yen 103.12
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
