(Updates prices)
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 before slipping
to $945.60/946.40 an ounce, down from $949.00/949.80 an ounce
late in New York on Wednesday. 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=> eased to $1.5810, 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," he
said.
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.0 an
ounce to $950.2 an ounce but off last week's record of
$1,033.90.
Spot platinum <XPT=> hit a high of $2,010 an ounce, up from
$1,990/2,000 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $449/454
an ounce from $453/458 an ounce, having hit an intraday high of
$454 on Thursday.
The most active February Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:>
ended 113 yen per higher at 6,285 yen per gram, reflecting a
firm cash market.
Silver <XAG=> rose as high as $18.46 an ounce, up from
$18.35/18.40 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0034 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 943.00 -10.50 -1.10 13.25
Spot Silver 17.94 -0.48 -2.61 21.46
Spot Platinum 2005.00 15.00 +0.75 31.91
Spot Palladium 449.00 -4.00 -0.88 22.01
TOCOM Gold 3058.00 20.00 +0.66 -0.07
54404
TOCOM Platinum 6285.00 113.00 +1.83 17.72
20697
TOCOM Silver 586.90 7.90 +1.36 8.48
1851
TOCOM Palladium 1484.00 4.00 +0.27 9.84
3131
Euro/Dollar 1.5734
Dollar/Yen 99.71
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)
