(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - Gold jumped to a one-week
high on Thursday as speculative buying picked up on a falling
U.S. dollar and surging crude oil, heightening the metal's
appeal as a hedge against inflation.
Gold <XAU=> hit a high of $954.50 an ounce, up from
$949.00/949.80 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday, but it
was still below a lifetime high of $1,030.80 touched on March
17.
Platinum and silver hit their loftiest level in more than a
week to track gains in gold, while palladium matched a near
one-week high struck on Wednesday.
"Looking ahead, we should be able to try $965. We are now
back above positive territory, technicals-wise," said William
Kwan, a dealer at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"Platinum is already above $2,000, so right now buying
interest is flowing back because of a better technical picture
and definitely the weak dollar."
Gold has gained more than 20 percent in 2008 on speculative
buying driven by record high oil prices that raised fears of
inflation, and expectations of further interest rate cuts in
the United States, which reduced the dollar's appeal.
Some dealers said investors' confidence was gradually
restored after last week's broad-based sell-off in commodities
knocked down gold prices to a one-month low of around $904 an
ounce.
"There's a lot of interest from private investors to
purchase gold around $920, and they have bought it. This is
what has given the gold price a support," said Kwan of Phillip
Futures. "There's less uncertainty."
The euro <EUR=> barely budged at $1.5845, having surged 2.7
percent combined on Tuesday and Wednesday, marking its biggest
two-day rise against the dollar since January 2001, when the
Federal Reserve started cutting rates to contain the last U.S.
recession. []
The dollar fell on Wednesday after data showed new orders
for long-lasting U.S. goods declined 1.7 percent last month and
a key measure of companies' appetite for investment also
contracted. []
Crude oil <CLc1> rose for a third straight session on
Thursday to $106 a barrel on a weak dollar and U.S. government
data showinglarger-than-expected drops in fuel stocks.
"Some people are bidding up the price to around $954 but
there's no follow-up. It looks like the market is rather quiet
and the Japanese are still on the selling side," said a bullion
dealer in Hong Kong.
"I think $960 and $965 will be good resistance levels. I
would say $950 to $955 will be the range for today." he said.
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $3.0 an
ounce to $952.2 an ounce but off last week's record of
$1,033.90.
Spot platinum <XPT=> hit a high of $2,005 an ounce, up from
$1,990/2,000 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> edged up to
$454/459 an ounce from $453/458 an ounce.
The most active February Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:>
ended the morning session up 43 yen per gram at 6,215 yen per
gram.
Silver <XAG=> rose as high as $18.46 an ounce, up from
$18.35/18.40 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0250 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 951.90 -1.60 -0.17 14.31
Spot Silver 18.31 -0.11 -0.60 23.97
Spot Platinum 1998.00 8.00 +0.40 31.45
Spot Palladium 454.00 1.00 +0.22 23.37
TOCOM Gold 3046.00 8.00 +0.26 -0.46
20137
TOCOM Platinum 6215.00 43.00 +0.70 16.41
7073
TOCOM Silver 587.40 8.40 +1.45 8.58
319
TOCOM Palladium 1482.00 2.00 +0.14 9.70
1096
Euro/Dollar 1.5802
Dollar/Yen 98.75
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)
