(Updates prices, adds physical sector)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 13 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains on
Thursday, moving closer to its recent record, as speculative
buying accelerated after the U.S. dollar sank against other
currencies and oil hit an all-time high above $110 a barrel.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $985.60/986.40 an ounce from
$981.90/982.70 late in New York, partly driven by early buying
from Japanese speculators. Gold was within sight of a record
high of $991.90 hit on March 6.
"I would expect the market to keep an eye on the weak
dollar and high oil prices. That gives the real support for
gold," said Louis Lok, a dealer at Bank of China in Hong Kong,
referring to a rebound from recent lows around $964 an ounce.
"I'd expect to see the support level at $975. We will test
again the high level of $994 or $995."
Other precious metals firmed but held below their recent
highs.
Gold has gone up as much as 19 percent in 2008, on top of a
32 percent rise last year, on fears of the inflationary impact
of rising energy costs and expectations of further interest
rates cuts in the United States, which elevate the metal's
appeal as an alternative investment.
Dealers pegged gold's upside target at $1,000 an ounce but
a lack of buying from jewellers could cap gains. Resistance was
at $995 an ounce.
In the physical sector, jewellers were on the sidelines as
prices moved up but dealers in Japan saw purchases from the
electronics sector. Gold-plated connectors are an integral part
of plugs and sockets, and the metal is also used in wiring to
connect parts of semiconductors such as transistors.
"I don't see strong selling interest from the general
public because people think the price will go up to $1,000
anyway. But physical demand from the industrial is quite
steady," said a dealer in Tokyo.
Gold bars were quoted at a discount of 25 U.S. cents an
ounce to the spot London price in Tokyo, unchanged from last
week <GOLD/ASIA1>.
The dollar tumbled 1.5 percent against the yen to a low of
100.02 yen <JPY=> on electronic trading platform EBS, the
lowest since late 1995. It slumped to an all-time low against
the euro <EUR=>.
Crude oil <CLc1> held near a record on Thursday as the
dollar's weakness outweighed increases in U.S. crude
inventories.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,070/2,080 an ounce from
$2,060/2,070 an ounce in New York.
The benchmark platinum futures contract for February
delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 25 yen
per gram to 6,516 yen.
In industry news, No. 2 gold producer Newmont Mining Corp
said global gold mine output willdecline over the next decade
or so because of productionconstraints and past underinvestment
in finding new resources.
For other news from the Reuters Global Mining Summit, click
on []
Silver <XAG=> rose to $20.26/20.31 an ounce from
$20.04/20.09 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $500/505
an ounce from $496/501 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0639 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 986.80 4.30 +0.44 18.51
Spot Silver 20.27 0.14 +0.70 37.24
Spot Platinum 2070.00 10.00 +0.49 36.18
Spot Palladium 500.00 4.00 +0.81 35.87
TOCOM Gold 3202.00 -40.00 -1.23 4.64
72453
TOCOM Platinum 6513.00 22.00 +0.34 21.99
17547
TOCOM Silver 657.30 8.10 +1.25 21.50
1584
TOCOM Palladium 1653.00 29.00 +1.79 22.35
6351
Euro/Dollar 1.5559
Dollar/Yen 100.05
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ben Tan)
