* Gold up 1 percent on bargain hunting, firmer euro
* Platinum rises 4 pct on technical rebound, sentiment
poor
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold gained as much as 1.5
percent on Wednesday as bargain hunters resurfaced, with a
weakening U.S. dollar against the euro also helping the metal
regain its safe-haven appeal after a sharp drop the previous
day.
While jewellers stayed on the sidelines, purchases from
investors pushed up holdings on the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, to a record
above 755 tonnes.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $877.35 an ounce, up $7.40 from
New York's notional close, having hit a high of $882.95 an
ounce.
"The U.S. jobs data will be released this week. It may be
bad data. So, gold will jump up to more than $900," said
Kazuhiko Saito of Interes Capital Management in Tokyo.
On Friday, the Labor Department issues its employment
report for September. Wall Street is looking for about 100,000
job losses, with some estimates as high as 156,000, according
to a Reuters survey.
"Gold is basically very strong. Holdings on the ETF are
also increasing. Nowadays, private investors in Japan have
reentered the market as buyers," said Yukuji Sonoda, precious
metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo.
Gold could find resistance at $900 but a rally to $950
could also spur buying from investors, who feared the metal
could rise further to $1,000 because of sound fundamentals, he
said.
"$950 is the most important point," he added.
Gold, which last hovered around $950 in July, was below a
record high of $1,030.80 struck in March.
It hit an intraday high of $914 on Tuesday after the U.S.
Congress rejected a $700 billion bailout plan to rescue the
economy before tumbling to $855.70 -- the biggest one day
percentage drop since August after shares reversed losses.
Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, struckanother record above 755
tonnes on Wednesday as bullion assertedits safe-haven role amid
turmoil in financial markets. []
The dollar slipped against the euro on Wednesday, a day
after the U.S. currency surged on hopes that U.S. lawmakers
could still reach agreement to revive a $700 billion bank
bailout plan to stem the credit crisis. []
"With renewed investment demand coming from gold investors
for portfolio protection, it's most likely gold will continue
its long-term upward trend in the next three years," said
William Kwan, bullion director of Gold Capital Management in
Singapore.
Gold was expected to surpass March's record high and hit
another lifetime high of $1,200 in the next six months, he
said.
Platinum jumped as high as 4.5 percent to track gold,
having fallen below $1,000 for the first time in almost three
years this week on worries about falling demand for
autocalysts, which account for 60 percent of global demand.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $1.5 to $881.5 an ounce.
Platinum was trading at $1,030.00 an ounce, up $16.00 from
New York's notional close. It tumbled to its weakest since
early 2006 at $982.50 on Tuesday. Platinum has been hit by
heavy selling due to poor car sales and a slowing U.S.
economy.
Precious metals prices at 0646 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 877.35 7.40 +0.85 5.36
Spot Silver 12.19 0.17 +1.41 -17.47
Spot Platinum 1030.00 30.00 +3.00 -32.24
Spot Palladium 199.50 5.00 +2.57 -45.79
TOCOM Gold 2991.00 -25.00 -0.83 -2.25
37978
TOCOM Platinum 3485.00 16.00 +0.46 -34.73
18406
TOCOM Silver 417.10 -21.80 -4.97 -22.90
1059
TOCOM Palladium 702.00 16.00 +2.33 -48.04
598
Euro/Dollar 1.4123
Dollar/Yen 105.99
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
