* Euro rises above $1.50, first time in 14 months
* Oil rallies over $2 to one-year high of $82 a barrel
* Indian demand wanes after festival season
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By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices clawed back
above $1,060 an ounce Wednesday as oil rallied and the euro
rose above $1.50 for the first time in 14 months.
The metal continued to take heart from a steadily falling
dollar. Investors were turning to gold as the depreciation of
global currencies threatened the value of paper assets.
Weak physical demand among jewelers and exchange-traded
funds has put gold at the mercy of the currency markets,
traders said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,062.70 an ounce at 3:07 p.m. EDT
(1907 GMT) compared with $1,054.00 late Tuesday in New York.
U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> settled up $4.80 at
$1,063.40 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Prices have been tracking the euro-dollar exchange rate,
with gold reaching record highs of $1,070.40 last week as the
dollar hit its lowest level in over a year versus the single
currency.
"Gold does not seem to have a mind of its own," said Afshin
Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance in Geneva. "It all
depends on the euro."
The dollar touched a one-month low against sterling and the
euro broke above $1.50 as expectations for low U.S. interest
rates weighed on the greenback. []
OIL BACK ON TRACK
Oil jumped more than 3 percent toward $82 a barrel on
Wednesday, its highest level in a year, due to a drawdown in
U.S. refined oil inventories and as a rise in U.S. equities
which showed optimism about the economy and a potential rebound
in energy demand. []
However, physical demand for gold remained slow as high
prices put off buyers. In India, the world's biggest gold
consumer last year, buyers stuck to the sidelines as demand
linked to last week's festival period petered out.
Among other precious metals, spot silver <XAG=> was at
$17.75 an ounce against $17.45.
Platinum and palladium prices held near recent multimonth
highs, but traders worried that gold might retreat from recent
gains and demand may fade for the used in catalytic
converters.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,364 an ounce against $1,347,
while palladium <XPD=> was at $337 versus $334.
ETF Securities USA filed a preliminary prospectus with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its proposed
first-ever U.S. platinum exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The company is currently still under the registration
process, and it is not allowed to further comment on the timing
of regulatory approval, a spokeswoman said. []
Separately, ETF Securities said in a note that its assets
under management in its U.S. Physical Swiss Gold Shares
<SGOL.P> and Physical Silver Shares <SIVR.P> had exceeded $350
million within two months of their inception.
Close Change Pct 2008 YTD
Chg Close % Chg
US gold <GCZ9> 1064.50 5.9 0.6 884.3 20.4
US silver <SIZ9> 17.825 0.267 1.5 11.295 57.8
US platinum <PLF0> 1374.40 18.10 1.3 941.50 46.0
US palladium <PAZ9> 341.50 3.85 1.1 188.70 81.0
Prices at 2:52 p.m. EDT (1852 GMT)
Gold <XAU=> 1061.75 7.75 0.7 878.20 20.9
Silver <XAG=> 17.66 0.21 1.2 11.30 56.3
Platinum <XPT=> 1364.00 17.00 1.3 924.50 47.5
Palladium <XPD=> 337.00 3.000 0.9 184.50 82.7
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1053.75 0.25 0.0 836.50 26.0
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 17.39 -36.50 -2.1 14.76 17.8
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1346.00 9.00 0.7 1529 -12.0
Palladium Fix<XPDFIX=> 334.00 2.00 0.6 365.0 -8.5
(Reporting by Frank Tang and Jan Harvey)
