* Gold underpinned by hopes of more central bank buying
* U.S. holiday may make players cautious
* Gold boosted by USD's 14-yr low vs yen, 15-mth low vs
index
* SPDR Gold holdings inch up 0.5 pct
* Platinum rises to highest since late August, 2008
*
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/MKT_GLD$OIL1109.gif
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Gold hit a record high above
$1,194 on Thursday as the dollar index fell to its lowest in 15
months, raising hopes that central banks would jump in to buy
more bullion in their effort to hedge against a falling
currency.
The rise took gold price gains to around 15 percent since
the beginning of November, with demand fuelled by expectations
of further reserve diversification and fears about inflation in
2010.
"Everybody is bullish on gold, and everybody is looking at
the signal central banks are sending," said Dick Poon, manager
of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong.
"It's not just India or China, but most of the central
banks, as well as funds, have changed their portfolios to
include gold. So, everybody is looking at how much money they
will invest in gold," he said.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a fresh record high of $1,194.90, up
from New York's notional close of $1,190.30.
U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> also rose to a fresh high
of $1,195.00 per ounce. Futures settled up $21.20, or 1.8
percent, at $1,187.00 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold has soared to new highs five times in the last ten
trading sessions, and three times this week.
The dollar extended losses on Thursday, falling to its
lowest in 14 years against the yen and hitting a fresh 15-month
low against a basket of six major currencies. []
The market is highly sensitive to speculation of more
bullion buying by central banks looking to diversify foreign
exchange reserves, particularly in Asia, after a newspaper
report that India is open to buying more gold from the
International Monetary Fund following its purchase of 200
tonnes earlier this month.
The IMF had no comment on the report. []
Any decision on whether India would buy more gold from the
IMF would be taken by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian finance
ministry official Anup Pujari, joint secretary for multilateral
institutions, told Reuters on Thursday. []
For a graphic of reserves held by India and China, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/IN_CHRSV1109.gif
Poon said there was a lot of physical demand despite high
prices, with Asian buyers seen in the market.
Late on Wednesday, the IMF said it had sold 10 tons of gold
to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, a part of the 403.3 tons
approved for sale by the fund's executive board in September.
The fund has already sold 202 tons of gold to the Reserve Bank
of India and the Bank of Mauritius.[]
For a timeline on gold prices, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/GLD/GLD_TMLN1109.html
Vietnam's central bank has granted quotas for the import of
10 tonnes of gold since lifting an import ban earlier this
month, and 6.8 tonnes had already come in, state broadcaster
VTV said on Wednesday. []
Russia's central bank bought 15.6 tonnes in October and has
said it aims to increase gold's share in its reserves this
year. []
"These moves further add to market speculation that central
banks will continue to buy gold," said Wakako Harada, a senior
trader at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the
Thanksgiving holiday.
"Reserve diversification moves by non-G7 central banks
underscore investor detachment from U.S. dollar assets and is
clearly reflected in gold's rally," said Shuji Sugata, a
manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures' research team.
Traders said volume was not large, with many players kept
to the sidelines due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager for Standard Bank,
said he did not expect strong follow-through buying, as players
were likely to become cautious with the U.S. on holiday.
"But sentiment is underpinned by speculation about central
bank buying of gold, with many believing India will buy more
from the IMF. And the dollar's weakness is also supportive," he
said.
With many market players expecting gold's bull run to
continue, investment in gold increased.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,127.860 tonnes
as of Nov. 25, up 5.489 tonnes, or 0.5 percent, from the
previous day and just shy of a record 1,134.03 tonnes hit on
June 1. []
Gold's rally pulled other precious metals higher, with
platinum <XPT=> rising as high as $1,480.00 per ounce, its
highest since late August, 2008.
The yen's rise against the dollar dented the appetite of
Japanese investors for yen-denominated gold, after the rise in
dollar-denominated gold prices to record highs dragged prices
up on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange to as high as 3,370 yen
earlier on Thursday to match their highest, hit on Sept 26,
1983.
Precious metals prices at 0620 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1193.00 2.70 +0.23 35.55
Spot Silver 18.76 -0.06 -0.32 65.72
Spot Platinum 1472.50 -0.50 -0.03 57.99
Spot Palladium 371.50 1.50 +0.41 101.36
TOCOM Gold 3339.00 -19.00 -0.57 29.77
76192
TOCOM Platinum 4118.00 -48.00 -1.15 55.28
15879
TOCOM Silver 525.10 -6.70 -1.26 64.45
356
TOCOM Palladium 1050.00 -11.00 -1.04 90.91
153
Euro/Dollar 1.5102
Dollar/Yen 86.69
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Sambit Mohanty)
((chikako.mogi@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3 6441 1871; Reuters
Messaging: chikako.mogi.reuters.com@reuter s.net))
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