* Gold jumps nearly 6 percent
* Platinum climbs after hitting 3-week low
* Physical buying supports gold, but investors cautious
(Updates prices and comments)
By Humeyra Pamuk
LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Gold jumped almost 6 percent to
its highest in a month on Friday, buoyed by a weakening dollar
and rising oil prices while other precious metals rallied,
tracking bullion's gains.
Spot gold <XAU=> rose to $789.55 an ounce, its highest since
Oct 21 and was at $786.05 an ounce by 1549 GMT, versus $745.10
an ounce in New York late on Thursday.
"We're seeing a rally supported by the weakening dollar,"
Suki Copper, analyst at Barclays Capital, said.
The dollar fell as global stocks rebounded. Early in New
York, the euro was up 0.9 percent at $1.2575 <EUR=> although it
was off a $1.2640 session high.
Gold tends to move in the opposite direction to the dollar,
as a strong U.S. currency makes bullion more expensive for local
currency holders.
"We have not seen a huge change in fundamentals. The World
Gold Council report certainly supports from a demand
perspective. We think on the back of strong jewellery demand the
downside should be cushioned for gold prices," Cooper said.
The World Gold Council said investment demand rose 56
percent to 382.1 tonnes for the third quarter of this year as
heightened levels of economic and financial uncertainty stirred
safe-haven buying.
The council said the global demand for gold was expected to
be steady around 843 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2008 on
festive demand and buying by investors.
But gold is still 25 percent below a lifetime high of
$1,030.80 struck in March, which it has been unable to revisit
after selling choked off recent rallies. It hit a two-month high
of $931 in October but losses in equities forced investors to
cash in to cover losses.
Oil rose above $50 a barrel, rebounding from a
three-and-a-half year low, buoyed by rallies in global stock
markets, reflecting hopes central banks around the world might
cut interest rates, including China. []
Platinum <XPT=> jumped more than 6 percent on bargain
hunting, after falling to a three-week low of $759 an ounce in
Asian trade as weak demand from the auto industry continued to
weigh on prices.
The metal, used mainly in autocatalysts to clean exhaust
fumes, was trading at $797.50 an ounce, up from $762.50 an ounce
in New York late on Thursday.
Honda Motor Co <7267.T> said it would build fewer cars in
Japan, Europe and North America to reflect an increasingly bleak
outlook for sales as the global economic crisis discourages
big-ticket purchases. []
"The price falls could lead to some supply side responses,
but overall people in the market are mainly concerned about the
demand, which is relatively weak," Widmer at BNP Paribas said.
New York gold futures <GCZ8> rose $10.2 an ounce to $758.7.
Silver <XAG=> was at $9.31/9.39 after rising as high as
$9.52 an ounce from $8.95 and palladium <XPD=> at $178.50 from
$173 an ounce late in New York on Thursday.
(Editing by Karen Foster and Sue Thomas)
