* Gold up more than 1 pct on buy-backs after sell-off on oil
* Silver and platinum jump more than 4 pct
* But traders careful about buying heavily on strong dollar
(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded more than 1 percent
to just below $800 an ounce on Monday as the dollar slipped from
highs against the euro and oil prices rose, fuelling active
short-covering after heavy sell offs last week.
Silver jumped more than 4 percent, and platinum and palladium
also rallied nearly 5 precent also on technical buy-backs, after
heavy sell offs last week hammered them down to multi-months low.
Precious metals prices were mainly up due to technical
short-covering, but many investors were careful about buying too
actively amid concerns over a slower economy and a strengthening
dollar, 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.
As of 0456 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was trading at
$796.60/798.60 an ounce, up 1.1 percent from $787.65/789.25 late
in New York on Friday. It touched an interday high of $799.55.
COMEX gold futures rallied on Monday after falling nearly 3
percent in New York on Friday. The most active December contract
<GCZ8> traded $10.4 higher at $802.50, up 1.3 percent from the
New York settlement.
In Japan, the benchmark June 2009 contract on the Tokyo
Commodity Exchange <0#JAU:> was trading at 2,840 yen per gram, up
27 yen or 1 percent from Friday.
A recovery in oil prices and the dollar's slight falls from
highs encouraged active short-covering in precious metals, but
traders were nervous about buying too strongly due to the U.S.
currency's underlying bullishness against the euro.
"Gold and precious metals have been oversold and the pace of
falls was clearly too rapid. Gold is gaining some support with
end-users also showing demand on price dips," said Hiroyuki
Kikukawa, an analyst at IDO Securities.
"Active sell-offs may slow, but a rapid recovery is also not
expected as there is plenty of selling interest if gold rises
back to around $850," Kikukawa said.
Oil rose over $1 to above $115 a barrel as investors eyed a
potential supply threat from Tropical storm Fay to oil and gas
production in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. light crude for September delivery <CLc1> was up $1.39
at $115.16 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 hit a six-month high against the euro on Monday
then slipped as oil prices rebounded, but worries about the euro
zone economy stalling kept its losses limited. []
Silver jumped more than 4 percent on Monday, advancing in
line with gold on short-covering following heavy sales last week.
Silver <XAG=> was at $13.20/13.26 an ounce from $12.74/12.84
in late Friday New York trade. It hit an intraday high of $13.27.
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $1,427.50/1,447.50 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 $290.50/298.50 an ounce from
$281/289 on Friday.
Precious metals prices at 0452 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 796.25 10.75 +1.37 -4.38
Spot Silver 13.20 0.51 +4.02 -10.63
Spot Platinum 1427.50 66.00 +4.85 -6.09
Spot Palladium 288.50 8.50 +3.04 -21.60
TOCOM Gold 2840.00 27.00 +0.96 -7.19 32590
TOCOM Platinum 5024.00 -72.00 -1.41 -5.90 18050
TOCOM Silver 473.50 -23.30 -4.69 -12.48 1357
TOCOM Palladium 1060.00 -7.00 -0.66 -21.54 692
Euro/Dollar 1.4745
Dollar/Yen 110.21
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo)
