(Recasts, updates with quote, prices, market activity, adds
NEW YORK to dateline)
By Frank Tang and Lewa Pardomuan
NEW YORK/LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Gold ended higher on
Monday, above $900 an ounce, after scaling a near-four week
peak on the back of speculative buying as oil hovered around
its record high, fanning fears of inflation.
Platinum tracked gold's gains and jumped to its highest
level in more than two months ahead of a supply and demand
report by precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey <JMAT.L>
before retreating as speculators booked profits.
Johnson Matthey said platinum may spike to a record high of
$2,500 an ounce this year and the market is expected to close
2008 in a significant deficit due to production shortfalls and
strong metal demand. []
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a high of $913.35 an ounce, its
highest level since April 23. It was last at $905.00/906.40 an
ounce by New York's last quote at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), up
from $899.55/900.95 late in New York on Friday
However, bullion remained below a lifetime high of
$1,130.80 hit on March 17.
Previous attempts to revisit the record high have been met
by heavy profit taking, which saw gold fall to a four-month low
of $845 an ounce in early May.
"Whether gold will hold above $900 is a difficult question.
Around about $920 should be the psychological resistance for
the metal," said Walter De Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank.
"If the dollar can appreciate again to around $1.54
(against the euro), we should see gold becoming down again.
Platinum of course remains very well supported from the
physical side."
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> ended up at a record $127.05 a
barrel.
In theory, firmer crude oil lifts gold's appeal as a hedge
against inflation.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange finished up $5.90
at $905.80 an ounce.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was at $2,146/2,161 an ounce from its
Friday finish of $2,126/2,141 an ounce late in New York. It
earlier hit an intraday high of $2,174 an ounce -- its loftiest
level since March 7.
Platinum struck a record high of $2,290 an ounce on March 4
after a power crisis in main producer South Africa disrupted
mining and sparked fear of a supply deficit.
"Jewellery demand is obviously down but industrial demand
is very, very strong. The supply situation is going to be sort
of one of the factors to watch in the next few years," said
James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.
A U.S. manager of Johnson Matthey said that he expected
100,000 to 150,000 ounces of platinum and "a couple hundred
thousand" ounces of palladium to be absorbed by PGM
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the end of this year.
[]
In the physical sector, dealers in Asia noted some selling
from speculators who cashed in on platinum's gains but demand
from the industrial sector remained solid.
"The automobile and glass industries are aggressive buyers
for physical platinum, but retail investors cashed in," said a
dealer in Tokyo.
"Our sales today are mostly for the industrial sector," he
said.
In other precious metals, spot silver <XAG=> edged up to
$16.98/17.04 an ounce from its previous finish of $16.90/17.00
late in New York.
Spot palladium <XPD=> was at $446/451 an ounce, higher than
the $443/451 posted late on Friday in New York.
