* Gold up on higher oil, bargain hunting
* Investors await CPI and jobless claims data
(Updates prices, physical activity)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Gold advanced on Thursday
after a jump in oil prices triggered bargain buying, but it
struggled to sustain early gains, which suggested bullion was
not out of the woods yet after tumbling to this year's lows on
Tuesday.
Other precious metals tracked gold's gains to defy a rising
dollar. Investors await the release of the U.S. July consumer
price index and weekly jobless claims data that could set the
tone for the greenback.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $833.15/834.15 an ounce from
$825.85/826.85 late in New York on Wednesday, when it jumped
more than 1 percent. The metal was off an eight-month low of
$801.90 ounce hit on Tuesday.
"I think the lower price has attracted buyers into the
market. Given the extreme volatility of the gold price in
recent days, I think picking the near-term direction is very
difficult," said David Moore, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank
of Australia.
"I think gold has been principally driven by investor
activity and the U.S. dollar movement has been an important
influence on gold," he said.
Japanese investors bought back contracts on Tokyo gold and
platinum futures, which tumbled by their daily limits this
week, but the markets were prone to sharp price movements due
to low volumes, dealers said.
Gold bars were quoted at a premium of 25 U.S. cents an
ounce to the spot London price in Tokyo. Gold bars were on par
with London prices last week. <GOLD/ASIA1>.
"Definitely there's a bit of bargain hunting, but I don't
think we are out of gold's decline yet. Resistance should be
around $836 and then $845. The downside, of course, will still
be around the $800s," said a dealer in Singapore.
Gold, which struck an all-time high at $1,030.80 in March,
has lost much of the gains to profit taking, oil's declines
from record highs and more recently the dollar's rally against
a basket of currencies which reduced the metal's safe-haven
appeal.
Oil <CLc1> added 84 cents to $116.84 a barrel as declines
in fuel and crude inventories in top consumer the United States
helped offset concerns about global consumption. [].
In theory, expensive oil lifts gold's appeal as a hedge
against inflation.
The dollar index, which gauges its performance against six
major currencies, edged up 0.2 percent to 76.373 <.DXY> -- near
a six-month high reached this week. []
The dollar has surged as investors see major central banks
cutting interest rates to limit the damage from the global
economy's slowdown, while the Federal Reserve is expected to
keep interest rates on hold after having already slashed them.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $6.9 an ounce to $838.4.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,513.00/1,533.00 an ounce
from $1,501.50/1,521.50 late in New York. Spot palladium <XPD=>
rose to $323.50/331.50 an ounce from $314.00/322.00 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $14.96/15.03 an ounce from
$14.82/14.88 late in New York.
The most active Tokyo gold contract for June 2009 delivery
<0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 58 yen per gram
to 2,949 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0435 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 832.90 7.30 +0.88 0.02
Spot Silver 14.95 0.09 +0.61 1.22
Spot Platinum 1513.00 9.00 +0.60 -0.46
Spot Palladium 323.50 4.50 +1.41 -12.09
TOCOM Gold 2950.00 59.00 +2.04 -3.59
36867
TOCOM Platinum 5378.00 118.00 +2.24 0.73
11464
TOCOM Silver 531.90 12.10 +2.33 -1.68
796
TOCOM Palladium 1167.00 46.00 +4.10 -13.62
849
Euro/Dollar 1.4888
Dollar/Yen 109.40
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)
