SINGAPORE, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains and rose to its highest in
seven weeks on Monday as growing unrest in the Middle East and rising oil prices
underpinned sentiment, lifting silver to its strongest level since 1980.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold $3.75 to $1,409.70 an ounce by 0052 GMT as protests that
have unseated leaders in Egypt and Tunisia spread to neighbouring states,
threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders elsewhere.
* Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared on state television on Tuesday and
signalled his defiance over a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule.
* U.S. gold futures for April rose $21.7 to $1,410.3 an ounce.
* Silver jumped to its highest since 1980 above $34 an ounce.
MARKET NEWS
* The U.S. dollar edged up against a basket of major currencies early in
Asia on Tuesday, although the Australian dollar eased and could suffer further
declines as mounting tension in the Middle East drive investors to cut risk.
* U.S. crude futures extended gains on Tuesday, with the March contract
reaching $94.49 per barrel, the highest for any nearby month since
October 2008, as concern grew that violence in Libya could lead to wider supply
disruptions from the OPEC country.
* Japan's Nikkei average moved away from its highest levels in over 9
months and fell on Tuesday for the first time in seven days as turmoil in the
Middle East made investors wary of riskier assets triggering profit-taking on
overbought blue-chip shares.
RELATED NEWS
> Libya may face civil war as Gaddafi's grip loosens
> Libya turmoil prompts oil surge, hits equities
> Egypt asks for freeze on Mubarak assets
> Yemen's Saleh says won't be forced out by anarchy
> Exiled Bahrain opposition leader to return home
> New Zealand's Christchurch hit by strong quake
> G20 keeps China onboard but tough talks ahead
> Ivorian troops kill protesters, AU meets Gbagbo
> Iran naval ships plan to cross Suez Canal on Tues
> First US drone hits in Pakistan in weeks kill 11
> Russia summons U.S. envoy over Japan dispute
> Hamburg rout bodes ill for Merkel in election year
DATA EVENTS (GMT)
1400 U.S. CaseShiller 20 mm nsa Dec 1400 U.S. CaseShiller 20 yy
Dec 1500 U.S. Consumer confidence Feb
Precious metals prices 0052 GMT
Metal Last Change
Pct chg YTD
pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1409.70 3.75
+0.27
-0.69
Spot Silver 34.17 0.32
+0.95
10.73
Spot Platinum 1849.99
3.54 +0.19
4.67
Spot Palladium 857.47
3.59 +0.42
7.25
TOCOM Gold 3768.00 28.00
+0.75
1.05 33566
TOCOM Platinum 4987.00
7.00 +0.14
6.20 5818
TOCOM Silver 89.90 2.20
+2.51
10.99 1998
TOCOM Palladium 2301.00
8.00 +0.35
9.73 214
Euro/Dollar 1.3629
Dollar/Yen 82.90
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in
$
per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by)
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