* Gold rises further as Nikkei slips on economy worry
* Platinum down 2 percent, demand worries resurface
* Oil softens, euro dips against dollar
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Gold gained more than 1
percent on Wednesday after declines in stock markets and
renewed fears the global economy could be tilting into
recession prompted speculators to buy the metal seen as an
alternative investment.
Platinum dropped more than 2 percent as worries about
demand resurfaced -- just one day after speculators and retail
investors in Japan pushed up the price to its strongest in two
weeks, above $1,000 an ounce.
Gold <XAU=> traded at $842.75 an ounce, up $7.50 from New
York's notional close. Gold jumped more than 2 percent to a
high of $853.50 on Tuesday, but trimmed gains after the United
States unveiled plans to take stakes in its biggest banks.
"Long-term investors are active. This is a good chance to
buy gold at this level. $900 is my price target within this
week," said Yukuji Sonoda, a precious metals analyst at Daiichi
Commodities in Tokyo.
Gold traded around $900 in September and struck a two-month
high of $931 last week before losing some of the gains to
rallies in equities. Bullion was still below a record high of
$1,030.80 hit in March.
Japan's Nikkei <> slipped 1.4 percent on Wednesday, a
day after its biggest one-day gain in history, with shares of
exporters down as U.S. stocks fell on worries about the global
economy.[]
Volatile gold prices blunted buying appetite in India, the
world's largest consumer, ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival
of lights, at the end of October. Investors, who normally take
profits when prices soar, were also on the sidelines.
"They are waiting because they think the market will rise even
further because of the global crisis. They think gold prices
may touch $1,000," said Girish Choksi, a dealer based in the
western gold-trading city of Ahmedabad.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its bullion holdings slipped on
Oct. 14 by 3.06 tonnes to 767.58 tonnes, which suggested some
investors booked profits from gold's recent gains. []
In other markets, oil fell towards $78 on recession fears,
which could potentially cap gains in gold []. The euro
slipped 0.4 percent against the dollar to $1.3560 <USD/>.
Platinum <XPT=> traded at $988.50 an ounce, down $29.00 an
ounce from New York's notional close. It hit a two-week high of
$1,040 on Tuesday, mainly due to buying from investors in
Japan.
A 5-percent decline in Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> also
ignited selling. More than 60 percent of global platinum use
goes to autocalysts to clean exhaust fumes.
"The problems in General Motor are not settled yet. That's
why platinum is not so strong," said Daiichi's Sonoda, adding
that trading houses were also seen selling back platinum.
Labor unions in the United States and Canada expressed
concern about the prospect of job losses from any merger
between General Motors Corp <GM.N> and Chrysler LLC, adding
that the automakers had not consulted union leaders.
[]
New York gold futures <GCZ8> rose $7.2 an ounce to $846.7.
Precious metals prices at 0224 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 842.75 7.50 +0.90 1.21
Spot Silver 10.94 -0.01 -0.09 -25.93
Spot Platinum 988.50 -29.00 -2.85 -34.97
Spot Palladium 196.00 1.00 +0.51 -46.74
TOCOM Gold 2748.00 -13.00 -0.47 -10.20
16261
TOCOM Platinum 3224.00 -165.00 -4.87 -39.61
10267
TOCOM Silver 354.10 0.10 +0.03 -34.55
425
TOCOM Palladium 654.00 -20.00 -2.97 -51.59
90
Euro/Dollar 1.3547
Dollar/Yen 101.19
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 Biman Mukherji in New Delhi; Editing
by Clarence Fernandez)
