* Gold gives up early gains, holding near 8-month lows
* Platinum rebounds from eight-month lows
(Updates prices)
SINGAPORE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Gold hovered within sight of
its lowest level in eight months on Wednesday as the U.S.
dollar held onto gains, prompting investors to trim their
bullion holdings.
Silver and palladium also shed early gains, while platinum
advanced in a technical rebound but there were no signs of
buying from automakers, with most Japanese car plants closed
for summer holidays.
Gold <XAU=> dropped to $808.10/809.10 an ounce from
$814.55/815.55 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday, when it
tumbled to $801.90 ounce -- its lowest level since late
December as investors ditched bullion on a rally in the dollar.
Gold remains well below a record high of $1,030.80 hit in
March.
"I think for the time being, the funds will continue try to
test the $800 level to see whether it can be supported or not,"
said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus Ltd in
Hong Kong.
The dollar held near six-month highs against a basket of
major currencies, with investors keeping an eye on oil and
stock markets to gauge how sustainable the recovery may be for
the U.S. currency. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,493.00/1,513.00 an ounce
from $1,469.50/1,489.50 late in New York, off Tuesday's
eight-month low at $1,462 an ounce.
"Below $1,500 is a very attractive price level for
automobile companies. They will soon enter the market but at
this moment, it's summer holiday in Japan," said Yukuji Sonoda,
precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo.
"The platinum price has already reached its bottom but
there are no buyers in the market," he said.
Platinum hit a lifetime high $2,290 in early March after a
power shortage in main producerSouth Africa disrupted mining
and sparked supply worries.Profit taking and worries about
falling demand for autocatalysts have erased all of this year's
gains.
Autocatalysts account for more than 60 percent of global
platinum use.
Some dealers in Japan said a trading house bought back
contracts in Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:>, which sank by the
daily limit on Tuesday, but selling pressure from retail
investors remained high.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $310/315 an ounce from
$305.00/313.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged down to
$14.47/14.53 an ounce from $14.60/14.66 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended the morning
session 81 yen per gram lower at 2,841 yen.
Gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.1 an
ounce to $815.7.
Precious metals prices at 0224 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 807.35 -3.30 -0.41 -3.04
Spot Silver 14.46 0.00 +0.00 -2.10
Spot Platinum 1493.00 23.50 +1.60 -1.78
Spot Palladium 310.00 4.00 +1.31 -15.76
TOCOM Gold 2841.00 -81.00 -2.77 -7.16
49796
TOCOM Platinum 5209.00 -8.00 -0.15 -2.43
12345
TOCOM Silver 509.30 -4.40 -0.86 -5.86
860
TOCOM Palladium 1103.00 -15.00 -1.34 -18.36
410
Euro/Dollar 1.4918
Dollar/Yen 108.46
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
