(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains and
rose 1 percent on Tuesday as record oil prices and recent falls
in the dollar encouraged some investors to put their money back
into the precious metal.
But gains could be limited as gold has yet to retest the
key resistance mark of $950 an ounce after falling from a
record high of $1,030.80 an ounce hit on March 17. Platinum
bounced and regained $2,000, while silver and palladium also
firmed.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $935.10/935.90 an ounce from
$925.30/926.10 late in New York. It hit an intraday low of
$914.10 on Monday before rebounding to hit a high of $931.10 as
U.S. oil futures settled around $111 a barrel.
"Gold just moves up along with firmer oil prices. That's
the only reason why I think gold is currently trading at this
level," said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scottia Mocatta in Hong
Kong.
"Basically, we are still in the range between $915 and
$938," said Tse, adding that there was light physical buying.
U.S. oil futures <CLc1> surged to a lifetime high of
$112.48 per barrel on Tuesday on supply disruptions and a weak
dollar, after London Brent crude futures <LCOc1> also surged to
a record. []
High oil prices elevate gold's appeal as a hedge against
inflation.
In the physical sector, purchases from India, the world's
largest gold consumer, have kept the physical market alive
during the wedding season, but wild swings in bullion prices
crimped demand in other parts of Asia. []
The euro dipped to $1.5824 <EUR=> but was up from Monday's
low of $1.5658. It hit a record high of $1.5915 on electronic
trading platform EBS last Thursday.
"Market participants are still very much on the long side.
We need to see fresh buying from the funds to bid gold up to
above $940," said William Kwan, a dealer at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
"I am still expecting the upside at $935 and the downside
at $915," said Kwan, referring to Tuesday's trading range.
Investors awaited U.S. data and first-quarter results from
financial institutions this week for clues on the state of the
economy and credit markets.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $2,000/2,010 an ounce from
$1,958/1,968 late in New York. It tumbled to its lowest level
in nearly two weeks at $1,940 on Monday to track weaker gold
and a sell-off in Tokyo futures.
The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> jumped 200
yen per gram to 6,360 yen, having fallen by its limit on
Monday.
Gold futures for June delivery <GCM8> on the COMEX division
of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $9.6 an ounce to
$938.3 an ounce.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $18.01/18.06 an ounce from
$17.78/17.83 an ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $461/467
an ounce from $459/463 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0739 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 935.50 11.40 +1.23 12.35
Spot Silver 18.01 0.31 +1.75 21.94
Spot Platinum 2000.00 42.00 +2.15 31.58
Spot Palladium 461.00 2.00 +0.44 25.27
TOCOM Gold 3055.00 50.00 +1.66 -0.16
55371
TOCOM Platinum 6363.00 203.00 +3.30 19.18
27824
TOCOM Silver 589.40 22.80 +4.02 8.95
661
TOCOM Palladium 1530.00 16.00 +1.06 13.25
1131
Euro/Dollar 1.5861
Dollar/Yen 100.86
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
