* Gold up more than 1 pct on buy-backs after sell-off on oil
* Silver and platinum jump about 4 pct
* But traders careful about buying heavily on strong dollar
(Adds comments, details)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded more than 1 percent
and silver jumped nearly 4 percent on Monday as a recovery in oil
prices fuelled active short-covering after heavy sell offs last
week hammered down prices to multi-months low.
Platinum and palladium also rallied about 4 precent, but
concerns over a slower economy and a strengthening dollar
overshadowed the precious metals market, traders said.
"Gold rebounded mainly on technical short-covering. It may
rebound above $800, looking at the dollar and oil," said Shuji
Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities Ltd.
"Gold and other metals have recovered a bit, but it's still
early to say they will recover continuously. Gold and oil prices
are still in a downward trend," Sugata said.
Spot gold <XAU=> was trading at $797.45/799.45 an ounce as of
0152 GMT, up 1.2 percent from $787.65/789.25 late in New York on
Friday.
COMEX gold futures rebounded on Monday after falling nearly 3
percent in New York on Friday. The most active December contract
<GCZ8> traded $9.0 higher at $801.10, up 1.1 percent from the New
York settlement.
In Japan, the benchmark June 2009 contract on the Tokyo
Commodity Exchange <0#JAU:> was trading at 2,839 yen per gram, up
26 yen or 0.9 percent from Friday.
A recovery in oil prices encouraged active short-covering in
precious metals, but traders were nervous about buying too
strongly due to the dollar's continuing strength.
Oil rose over $1 to near $115 a barrel as investors eyed a
potential supply threat from Tropical storm Fay to oil and gas
production in the Gulf of Mexico.
As of 0137 GMT, U.S. light crude for September delivery
<CLc1> was up 94 cents at $114.71 a barrel. The contract settled
down $1.24 at $113.77 a barrel on Friday, after dipping to
$111.34, the lowest level since May 2. []
The dollar rose to a six-month high against the euro on
Monday, extending its gains from last week as worries about the
euro zone economy stalling and a drop in oil prices bolstered
investor confidence in the U.S. currency. []
Silver slowed gains after jumping nearly 4 percent in early
trade on Monday, advancing in line with gold on short-covering
following heavy sales last week.
Silver <XAG=> was at $13.16/13.22 an ounce from $12.74/12.84
in late Friday New York trade. It hit an intraday high of $13.23.
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $1,415.50/1,435.50 an ounce,
up 3.6 percent to $1,361.50/1,381.50 an ounce from
$1,365.00/1,385.00 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> jumped to $292/300 an ounce from $281/289 on
Friday.
Precious metals prices at 0144 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 797.10 11.60 +1.48 -4.28
Spot Silver 13.16 0.47 +3.70 -10.90
Spot Platinum 1420.00 58.50 +4.30 -6.58
Spot Palladium 292.00 12.00 +4.29 -20.65
TOCOM Gold 2844.00 31.00 +1.10 -7.06 20260
TOCOM Platinum 5035.00 -61.00 -1.20 -5.69 10414
TOCOM Silver 471.30 -25.50 -5.13 -12.88 802
TOCOM Palladium 1071.00 4.00 +0.37 -20.73 359
Euro/Dollar 1.4736
Dollar/Yen 110.23
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo)
