* Gold up on higher oil, bargain hunting
* Investors await CPI and jobless claims data
(Updates prices)
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.
Platinum jumped more than 1 percent and other metals also
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.
"Looking forward, the technically oversoldcondition might
spur further upside forgold for today and tomorrow," said
William Kwan, bullion director at Gold Capital Management 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.
"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.
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.
Oil <CLc1> added 67 cents to $116.66 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. []
New York gold futures <GCZ8> added $8.6 an ounce to $840.1.
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $1,524.50/1,544.50 an ounce
from $1,501.50/1,521.50 late in New York in a technical
rebound, but dealers said investors had ditched the metal after
it dropped to an eight-month low at $1,462 this week.
"It's basically tracking gold and getting that little
bounce, but still not out of the doldrums yet, said Singapore
dealer.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to $321.50/329.50 an ounce from
$314.00/322.00 an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged up to $15.02/15.07
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 60 yen per gram
to 2,951 yen.
Precious metals prices at 0736 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 833.90 8.30 +1.01 0.14
Spot Silver 15.02 0.16 +1.08 1.69
Spot Platinum 1524.50 20.50 +1.36 0.30
Spot Palladium 321.50 2.50 +0.78 -12.64
TOCOM Gold 2951.00 60.00 +2.08 -3.56
60529
TOCOM Platinum 5373.00 113.00 +2.15 0.64
16316
TOCOM Silver 533.90 14.10 +2.71 -1.31
1066
TOCOM Palladium 1164.00 43.00 +3.84 -13.84
1104
Euro/Dollar 1.4916
Dollar/Yen 109.44
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)
