* Investors sell gold to raise liquidity as markets slide
* Commodities tumble across the board; oil down $4/barrel
* Coming up: U.S. Fed statement on interest rates
(Rewrites, adds comments, updates prices, adds NEW YORK
byline/dateline)
By Frank Tang and Amanda Cooper
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell more
than 2 percent on Tuesday, but were well off their lows, as
rising fears over Japan's nuclear crisis hit global financial
markets, prompting a flight to liquid assets like cash.
Platinum group metals also fell sharply as a potential
radiation catastrophe dampened demand expectations from Japan's
powerful auto industry.
"We have a risk-off trade going on as a result of the
issues in Japan. There has been institutional liquidation and
other liquidation globally as people are choosing to raise cash
at this moment," said James Steel, chief commodity analyst at
HSBC bank.
Spot gold <XAU=> fell as low as $1,380.90 an ounce and was
later down 2.1 percent at $1,396.75 an ounce by 12:25 p.m. EDT
(1625 GMT). U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ1> lost 2
percent to $1,396.50.
Fear of heavy economic repercussions in Japan pounded world
stock markets on Tuesday, shredding $1 trillion in equity
valuations as investors dumped assets considered risky and
sought the safety of government debt. []
Silver <XAG=> tumbled as much as 6 percent to a low of
$33.56 an ounce, and was later down 3.8 percent at $34.48 an
ounce.
Platinum prices <XPT=> shed as much as 3.5 percent, falling
to their lowest level since mid-December at $1,687.99 an ounce.
They were later down 2.7 percent at $1,701.99 an ounce.
Palladium <XPD=> fell as much as 7.5 percent to $684.50 an
ounce, its fifth day of losses and its longest losing streak
since early August. It later dropped 5.4 percent to $699.97.
Major Japanese car makers, including Toyota <7203.T>,
Nissan <7201.T> and Honda <7267.T>, stopped vehicle production
following Friday's earthquake, which crippled roads, railways
and ports. Carmakers are the biggest consumers of platinum and
palladium.
According to refiner Johnson Matthey, Japan was the largest
single national user of platinum in 2010, and accounted for 18
percent of global autocatalyst demand of 2.985 million ounces.
Prices at 12:25 p.m. EST (1625 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCJ1> 1396.50 -28.40 -2.0% -1.8%
US silver <SIK1> 34.500 -1.340 -3.7% 11.5%
US platinum <PLJ1> 1705.10 -47.20 -2.7% -4.1%
US palladium <PAM1> 703.00 -45.20 -6.0% -12.5%
Gold <XAU=> 1396.75 -29.90 -2.1% -1.6%
Silver <XAG=> 34.48 -1.37 -3.8% 11.7%
Platinum <XPT=> 1701.99 -48.00 -2.7% -3.7%
Palladium <XPD=> 699.97 -40.03 -5.4% -12.4%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1400.50 -6.50 -0.5% -0.7%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 33.88 -230.00 -6.4% 10.6%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1711.00 9.50 0.6% -1.2%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 700.00 23.00 3.2% -11.5%
(Reporting by Frank Tang)
