* Gold slips from intraday highs
* Eyes on oil, Hurricane Gustav
* Volumes likely to remain low because of U.S. holiday
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Gold gave up early gains by
midday on Monday, after rising almost $5 on the back of higher
oil prices ahead of Hurricane Gustav, but volumes will likely
remain low because of a U.S. holiday.
Purchases from jewellers in Indonesia spurred trading in
the physical sector ahead of the Muslim Eid al Fitr holidays in
October, while a political crisis in Thailand had yet to
attract safe-haven buying. Thailand is Asia's fourth-largest
gold investor.
Gold <XAU=> hit an intraday high of $835.25 an ounce before
slipping to $830.75/831.75 an ounce, little changed from
$830.35/832.35 an ounce late in New York on Friday.
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Labor Day holiday
and investors waited for the release of U.S. economic
indicators, including Friday's non-farm payrolls.
"I think in the near term, gold will still be looking at
the $845 resistance and we will probably need a clear break
above those regions before gold can head higher," said Adrian
Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Oil prices <CLc1> rose more than $1 on Monday after energy
firms in the U.S. Gulf shut down nearly all offshore oil output
and a host of flood-prone coastal refineries ahead of Hurricane
Gustav, the biggest threat since 2005's devastating Katrina.
[]
"I guess people will closely watch oil prices because
Gustav may be worse than Katrina. They say Gustav is Katrina's
boyfriend," said a physical dealer in Singapore.
"I've spoken to one of the manufacturers in Indonesia and
basically they are in preparation for the festival. I don't see
people rushing to buy in Thailand, but in general, there's a
lack of supply of gold bars here and demand is good," he said .
Premiums for gold bars were steady at $1.50 to $1.80 an
ounce to the spot London prices <GOLD/ASIA1>.
A small bomb exploded in a central Bangkok police booth on
Monday as a stand-off between the Thai Prime Minister and
protesters occupying his office entered its seventh day with no
sign of either side backing down. []
Gold has bounced since tumbling to nine-month lows around
$773 an ounce in mid-August but is still well below a record
high of $1,030.80 struck in March.
"We saw a sharp decline in currencies and gold recently,
and perhaps we are going to consolidate around those levels for
a while before the market decides where to go next," said Koh
of Phillip Futures.
"Frankly speaking, I think gold's going to consolidate
around these levels. Probably around the $770-$900 range," he
said.
The benchmark gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange, August 2009 <JAUc6>, fell 30 yen per gram to 2,914
yen due to a firmer yen.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $0.6 an ounce to
$835.80.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,451.50/1,471.50 an ounce,
from $1,474.50/1,494.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
eased to $297.50/305.50 an ounce from $303.00/341.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> firmed to $13.63/13.69 an ounce from
$13.58/13.68 an ounce late in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0418 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 830.40 0.60 +0.07 -0.28
Spot Silver 13.62 0.04 +0.29 -7.79
Spot Platinum 1451.50 -25.00 -1.69 -4.51
Spot Palladium 297.50 -5.00 -1.65 -19.16
TOCOM Gold 2915.00 -29.00 -0.99 -4.74
19013
TOCOM Platinum 5020.00 -55.00 -1.08 -5.97
10747
TOCOM Silver 478.50 -7.40 -1.52 -11.55
459
TOCOM Palladium 1059.00 4.00 +0.38 -21.61
752
Euro/Dollar 1.4635
Dollar/Yen 108.48
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)
