* Gold up 1 pct in early trade, PGMs fall
* Coming Up: Japan consumer confidence Feb 2011; 0500 GMT
(Adds premiums in Tokyo)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 14 (Reuters) - Bullion rose about 1 percent
on Monday as Japan battled to prevent a nuclear catastrophe
after a massive earthquake and tsunami, sending premiums for
gold bars to their highest level since February in Tokyo.
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.
Spot gold added $2.49 to $1,420.19 an ounce by 0258
GMT after rising as high as $1,431.89 an ounce as markets began
estimating the huge economic costs caused by the disaster.
Bullion was still off a record high of $1,444.40 hit last week.
"The Japanese market is a bit tight on gasoline, so there
are inflation risks. That's why Tokyo premiums are a bit
higher," said a dealer at a bullion trading house in Tokyo.
Gold bars were quoted at a premium of $1 an ounce to the
spot London prices in Tokyo, up from zero last week and a
discount of 50 cents two weeks ago.
Japan will move quickly to import more liquefied natural gas
and low-sulphur fuels to generate power at thermal plants and
replace nuclear electricity supplies put out of action after the
nation's worst earthquake in recorded history.
Moody's Investor Service said it was awaiting a full
assessment of the damage from Japan's devastating earthquake and
tsunami, but said the impact was worse than initially expected.
Moody's last month changed its outlook on Japan's "Aa2"
sovereign rating to "negative" from "stable," warning that a
downgrade was likely if the government fails to bring its
ballooning public debt under control.
"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."
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 gave up early gains and
was steady near $1,421 an ounce.
Silver was off an intraday high, 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 by almost $3, reaching a two-week low near
$111 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 0258 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1420.19 2.49 +0.18 0.05
Spot Silver 35.75 -0.08 -0.22 15.85
Spot Platinum 1745.99 -32.51 -1.83 -1.22
Spot Palladium 750.50 -6.50 -0.86 -6.13
TOCOM Gold 3765.00 -28.00 -0.74 0.97 44486
TOCOM Platinum 4667.00 -141.00 -2.93 -0.62 18648
TOCOM Silver 93.70 0.60 +0.64 15.68 1886
TOCOM Palladium 1983.00 -71.00 -3.46 -5.44 634
Euro/Dollar 1.3930
Dollar/Yen 82.17
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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