(Updates prices, adds comments, details)
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Monday, erasing early
gains as the dollar recovered against major currencies after a
sell-off late last week, while crude oil slipped slightly from
record peaks above $126 a barrel.
Spot gold <XAU=> fell to $878.40/879.40 an ounce as of 0852
GMT after earlier rising as high as $889.10, compared with
$886.30/888.30 in late New York on Friday.
The dollar climbed back towards a two-month high versus a
basket of currencies as signs of economic weakness in Australia
and New Zealand showed the global slowdown spreading, a shift
that is expected to help buoy the battered U.S. currency.
[]
Gold usually has an inverse relationship with the dollar as
the two compete for investors.
Against the yen, the dollar reversed earlier losses to rise
to 103.80 yen <JPY=>, gaining about 1 yen from late U.S. trade on
Friday. The euro slipped 0.5 percent to $1.5407 <EUR=>.
The dollar index, which tracks the dollar's value against a
basket of major currencies, rose 0.2 percent to 73.267 <.DXY>,
edging back towards a two-month high of 73.895 hit last week.
The run-up followed a fall of more than 6 percent in the
first three months of 2008 in reaction to the Federal Reserve's
aggressive interest rate cuts and efforts to pump cash into
locked-up money markets.
"The current momentum in gold doesn't look to be strong
enough to test the $900 level," said Naomi Suzuki, senior analyst
at Sumitomo Corp.
"Unlike in the first quarter when a weakening dollar gave us
the main theme, there is nothing as clear to trade on now," she
said.
Gold slipped below $900 in late April and has since showed
little resilience, in contrast to crude oil's rally to a new
all-time high. Gold hit a record high of $1,030.80 on March 17.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> briefly topped $126 per barrel
on Monday before falling to $125.38 in Globex electronic trading
in late Asian trade, down 58 cents from the New York close.
"Buying appetite is staying low as investors mostly see the
value of their assets being hurt (by recent volatility in
financial markets)," said Hitoshi Inagawa, senior manager at
Japanese commodity brokerage Yutaka Shoji Co.
"Gold will remain lucklustre unless the euro gains further
momentum versus the dollar or unexpected accidents or events
trigger safe-haven buying," he said.
Investors appeared unperturbed by news in the afternoon that
an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck Sichuan province in
southwest China. []
The most active June gold futures contract <GCM8> on the
COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange stood at
$880.0 an ounce, down $5.8 from the previous close.
The key gold futures for distant April delivery <0#JAU:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange closed down 5 yen a gram at 2,959
yen.
Spot platinum <XPT=> fell to $2,034.50/2,044.50 an ounce,
down from $2,074.00/2,094.00 in New York on Friday.
On Friday, platinum rose as high as $2,095, the highest since
March 17, as the launch of U.S. platinum exchange-traded notes
boosted sentiment. []
Palladium <XPD=> was at $435/440 an ounce, up from $432/440
in late New York. Silver <XAG=> was at $16.69/16.75 an ounce,
down from $16.82/16.88 in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0835 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 878.40 -5.50 -0.62 5.49
Spot Silver 16.66 -0.11 -0.66 12.80
Spot Platinum 2041.00 -33.00 -1.59 34.28
Spot Palladium 437.00 -2.00 -0.46 18.75
TOCOM Gold 2959.00 -5.00 -0.17 -3.30 39233
TOCOM Platinum 6619.00 -59.00 -0.88 23.97 26300
TOCOM Silver 563.50 -5.80 -1.02 4.16 703
TOCOM Palladium 1496.00 -4.00 -0.27 10.73 1221
Euro/Dollar 1.5423
Dollar/Yen 103.79
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Hugh Lawson)
