(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Cash gold fell in Asian trade on
Monday, reversing earlier gains and nearing a one-month low
touched last week below $905 as the dollar gained ground against
other major currencies.
Spot gold <XAU=> briefly rose above $920 an ounce, but
reversed course to trade at $913.00/913.80 as of 0315 GMT,
compared with $916.60/917.40 in Asia late on Friday.
Gold traded at $920.30/921.10 in late New York trade on
Thursday before the U.S. and European markets closed for the Good
Friday holiday.
In Asia, markets in Hong Kong and Australia remained closed
for Easter Monday, but markets in India and Singapore reopened.
Gold hit a record high last Monday at $1,030.80 as concerns
about deepening financial market troubles in the United States
hit the dollar and raised gold's profile as a safe-haven asset.
But the dollar has steadied against other major currencies,
helped by a series of aggressive efforts by the Federal Reserve
to ease the credit crisis.
"Investors had fled to cash and gold as fears about the
liquidity crunch heightened in the U.S., but their flight was
coming to a halt given joint efforts by the Fed and the Treasury
Department," said Yuki Sonoda, adviser at Daiichi Commodities Co,
referring to the proposed takeover of troubled U.S. investment
bank Bear Stearns <BCS.N>.
"A sell-off in all commodities late last week means that a
reversal mode has set in," he said.
On Thursday, gold bottomed at $904.65, a level last seen on
Feb. 18, as investment funds cashed in bullion for cash to cover
losses in other financial markets.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 99.85 yen <JPY=> from late
Asian trading on Friday. The dollar hit a 13-year low of 95.77
yen on electronic trading platform EBS early last week.
The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.5360 <EUR=> from around
$1.5445 in late Asian trading on Friday, slipping further from a
record high of $1.5905 struck on EBS last week.
COMEX gold futures slid in Asia. The most active April
contract <GCJ8> on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange stood at $913.30 an ounce, compared with Thursday's
settlement of $920.
Gold futures <0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)
for the most active February delivery dropped 62 yen per gram to
2,955 yen, and silver futures eased further, with February
falling by the daily 40-yen limit to 555.6 yen per 10 grams.
TOCOM platinum futures <0#JPL;> were little changed, with the
February contract rising 3 yen per gram to 5,748 yen.
Spot platinum <XPT=> eased to $1,845/1,850 an ounce from
$1,850/1,860 in late Asian trade on Friday.
Spot silver <XAG=> fell to $16.98/17.03 an ounce from around
$17.07. Palladium <XPD=> edged down to $428/434 an ounce from
around $431.
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; editing by Gary Crosse)
