* Dollar slides to 13-month lows vs euro
* Oil prices rise above $74 a barrel, near year-highs
* Silver, platinum, palladium strike multi-month highs
(Releads, updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Gold prices hit a record high in
Europe on Monday, while platinum, palladium and silver rallied
to multi-month peaks, as the dollar's tumble to 13-month lows
against the euro fuelled buying of the precious metals.
A rise in oil prices above $74 a barrel and a recovery in
physical demand for gold after a sluggish year for the jewellery
market are also helping lift the metal, analysts said.
Spot gold <XAU=> touched a peak of $1,068.30 an ounce, and
was bid at $1,064.20 an ounce at 1235 GMT against $1,055.25 late
in New York on Monday. It has rallied 12 percent since the
beginning of September.
"Point to whatever you like -- strong crude prices, surging
softs, EUR/USD poised to break higher, approach of the full moon
tomorrow -- (gold) just doesn't want to go down," said Tom
Kendall, precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi Corp.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $8.00 to
$1,065.50. They touched a record at $1,069.70 earlier.
Gold and other dollar-priced commodities are benefiting from
a slide in the U.S. currency to 13-month lows against the euro,
which helped push the dollar index <.DXY> to its lowest in over
a year. []
Currency and equity traders are awaiting the release of U.S.
corporate results later in the week for clues as to the future
direction of trade. On the wider markets, European shares turned
positive after easing in early trade. []
Oil also rose above $74 a barrel, to near its 2009 high.
[] Strength in crude often benefits gold, both because it
boosts interest in commodities as an asset class and as the
precious metal can be bought as a hedge against oil-led
inflation.
Gold enthusiasts are also taking heart from a pick-up in
demand for gold jewellery in India, the world's largest bullion
consumer last year, after an extremely sluggish year. []
Demand for gold to back bullion exchange-traded funds is
lacklustre, however. Holdings of the world's largest gold ETF,
the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, were steady on Monday. []
NEW PEAKS TARGETED
From a technical perspective, gold is poised to hit
resistance at $1,066 an ounce. If it fails to breach that level,
it could slip back to its previous record high above $1,030 and
from there to $1,000, Commerzbank analysts said.
"A weekly close above $1,057 is still needed in order to
confirm that it has been cleared," they said in a report. "Above
here would introduce scope towards $1,191."
Gold's rally lifted the price of other precious metals.
Silver rose above $18.00 an ounce for the first time since July
2008, reaching a peak of $18.01 before edging back to $17.86.
Late in New York on Monday it was at $17.68.
Citigroup said in a research note it expects silver to
average $16.00 an ounce in 2009 and $17.40 next year.
"In our forecasts we believe the gold-silver ratio will
strengthen to around 59 as silver is set to outperform gold," it
said. "Although both shares "safe-haven" properties to some
degree, silver has superior leverage to the industrial cycle."
Platinum <XPT=> hit a 13-month high of $1,361.50 and
palladium <XPD=> a 13-1/2 month peak of $333 an ounce.
The metals were later bid at $1,359.50 an ounce versus
$1,336.50 late in New York on Monday and at $329.50 versus
$325.50 respectively.
(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown; Editing by Sue Thomas)
