* Gold up nearly 2 pct on buy-backs after sell-off on oil
* Silver up more than 4 pct, platinum up nearly 5 pct
* But traders careful about buying heavily on strong dollar
(Updates prices to late afternoon, adds background)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold rallied nearly 2 percent to
above $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
rallied nearly 5 precent also on technical buy-backs, after heavy
sell offs last week hammered them down to multi-month lows.
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," said
Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities
Ltd in Tokyo.
"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 0640 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> was trading at
$800.25/801.75 an ounce, up 1.6 percent from $787.65/789.25 late
on Friday in New York. It touched an interday high of $801.55.
COMEX gold futures rallied on Monday after falling nearly 3
percent in New York on Friday. The most active December contract
<GCZ8> traded $13.1 higher at $805.20, up 1.7 percent from the
New York settlement.
In Japan, the benchmark June 2009 contract on the Tokyo
Commodity Exchange <0#JAU:> was trading at 2,850 yen per gram, up
37 yen or 1.3 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.
Spot gold dropped to as low $773.90 on Friday, the lowest
since Nov. 20. The spot price dropped about 10 percent last week.
"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 $1.28
at $115.05 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 $13.24/13.30 an ounce compared with
$12.74/12.84 in late Friday New York trade. It hit an intraday
high of $13.29.
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $1,425.50/1,445.50 an ounce,
up 4.7 percent from $1,365.00/1,385.00 in New York.
Palladium <XPD=> jumped to $289/297 an ounce from $281/289 on
Friday.
Precious metals prices at 0638 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 801.10 15.60 +1.99 -3.79
Spot Silver 13.26 0.57 +4.49 -10.22
Spot Platinum 1425.50 64.00 +4.70 -6.22
Spot Palladium 289.00 9.00 +3.21 -21.47
TOCOM Gold 2854.00 41.00 +1.46 -6.73 44510
TOCOM Platinum 5056.00 -40.00 -0.78 -5.30 22197
TOCOM Silver 475.80 -21.00 -4.23 -12.05 1510
TOCOM Palladium 1057.00 -10.00 -0.94 -21.76 886
Euro/Dollar 1.4744
Dollar/Yen 110.13
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo)
