* Gold reaches highest since Oct 10 on safe haven demand
* Gold hits record in euro, sterling terms
* SPDR Gold Trust bullion holdings rise to all-time high
(Updates prices, adds new euro high)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Gold climbed above $900 an ounce
to reach its highest level in more than three months in Europe
on Monday, as interest in bullion as a haven from risk spurred
buying.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $908.30/910.30 an ounce at 1154 GMT,
its highest since Oct 10, and up from $898.10 in New York late
on Friday.
Gold priced in euros <XAUEUR=R> reached a new all-time high
of 700.54 an ounce, and in sterling <XAUGBP=R> of 661.55 pounds,
as fears over the global economic slowdown and volatility in
other asset prices spurred buying. []
RBS Global Banking & Markets' head of commodity strategy
Nick Moore said factors including falling interest rates, the
"reinflation" of Western economies and prospect of lower supply
both from mines and via central bank sales were supporting gold.
"There is an insatiable thirst for gold at the moment," he
said.
The dollar, whose strength usually weighs on gold, climbed
to a six-week high against the euro on Monday, as investors
worried about the outlook for the banking sector. []
However, other factors outweighed the dollar-euro exchange
rate to support the precious metal. Demand for physical gold
both from investors in smaller products such as coins and bars
and from exchange-traded funds remains firm.
Investors were seeking the safety of physical bullion as
other asset prices met fresh volatility, analysts said.
"In times of economic crisis, falling equity markets and
mounting aversion to risk, physical gold is preferred as the
safest form of investment," Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg
said.
The world's largest gold-backed ETF, New York's SPDR Gold
Trust <GLD>, which issues securities backed by physical stocks
of the precious metal, said its holdings rose 1.6 percent to an
all-time high of 832.57 tonnes on Friday. []
The trust's bullion holdings have climbed more than 52
tonnes or nearly 7 percent since the beginning of the year.
ASIA
Japan's biggest bullion house Tanaka Kikinzoku said its gold
coin sales more than doubled in 2008 as the global financial
crisis unfolded. []
Asian precious metals trading is likely to be muted by the
closure of the Shanghai Gold Exchange on Monday due to the Lunar
New Year holiday.
On the supply side, AIM-listed gold miner Peter Hambro
Mining <POG.L> said its 2008 attributable gold production was up
36 percent at 393,600 ounces, and that it expects its 2009
production to be 460,000-510,000 ounces. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> rose in line with
gold to $12.09/12.17 an ounce from $11.92.
Platinum <XPT=> firmed to $969/974 an ounce from $955.50 an
ounce in New York late on Friday.
"We would not be surprised to see the gap between platinum
and gold narrow: the ratio stands at about 1.07 at the time of
writing and we have a standing recommendation to buy the
platinum gold spread when the ratio falls below 1.05," UBS
strategist John Reade said in a daily note.
"We believe that in the long term platinum should trade at a
considerable premium to gold and we observe that periods of
platinum's discount to gold tend to be measured in days or weeks
rather than months and years," he added.
Palladium <XPD=> eased to $194/199 an ounce from $195.00.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
