SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Gold fell almost 1 percent on Thursday, ending a two-day rally as a renewed dive in share markets forced bullion selling and a deeper slump in oil prices reduced its appeal as an inflation hedge.
Gold, often viewed as a safe haven in turbulent times, defied Wednesday's broad commodities and stock market sell-off, but was swept up in fresh losses on Thursday as Japan's Nikkei tumbled nearly 10 percent, copper slumped 5 percent and oil shed over $1.
'In the past, we would expect to see gold move up when stock markets tumbled, but this is not the case anymore. People think some of the financial institutions have to liquidate their long positions to cover losses,' a dealer in Hong Kong said.
'Some of the funds are not doing very well. Technically, it's difficult to say where the market is heading but $850 and $860 are still good resistance levels,' he said.
Platinum fell 2 percent, to near its lowest in almost 3 years, on fears of falling demand for autocalysts after J.D. Power and Associates pegged October sales on track for a 17-year low with a sales rate below 12 million units.
Gold traded at $842.00 an ounce, down $6.00 from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it gained 1 percent amid losses in stock markets.
Darren Heathcote of Investec Austarlia in Sydney also said traders were probably selling gold to meet margin calls, but reckoned another wave of buying was possible if markets calmed.
'But one could expect that if the market calms again in the next couple of days, we might get a slight push up again,' said Heathcote, who pegged resistance at $900 -- a level last seen earlier this month.
Gold's volatility has spooked jewellers and some investors. It hit a two-month high of $931 on Friday on a weak dollar before tumbling all the way to $823.50 on the same day as investors sought cash to cover margin calls.
Gold was well below a record of $1,030.80 hit in March, when investors and funds poured money into the metal on fears of rising energy costs and uncertainties in the dollar's outlook.
The Nikkei fell more than 10 percent as fears grew that recent financial system rescue measures were not enough to avert a severe recession.
Wall Street suffered its worst day since the 1987 market crash on Wednesday after data showing U.S. retail sales fell much more than expected in September and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy faced a 'significant threat' from the credit crisis.
Oil fell for a third day to a new 13-month low near $73 a barrel on Thursday on worries that a deepening economic slowdown will cut into already weakening demand.
Platinum plunged for a second day, falling $19.50 an ounce to $935.50, near the almost three-year low it touched a week ago amid fears that a global recession would do even more damage to new car sales, reducing demand for the metal for use in autocalysts to clean exhaust fumes.
Precious metals prices at 0215 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 842.00 -6.00 -0.71 1.12
Spot Silver 10.19 -0.04 -0.39 -31.01
Spot Platinum 935.50 -19.50 -2.04 -38.45
Spot Palladium 190.00 1.00 +0.53 -48.37
TOCOM Gold 2705.00 -53.00 -1.92 -11.60 20461
TOCOM Platinum 3017.00 -233.00 -7.17 -43.49 8417
TOCOM Silver 320.10 -34.30 -9.68 -40.83 987
TOCOM Palladium 616.00 -53.00 -7.92 -54.40 380
Euro/Dollar 1.3505
Dollar/Yen 100.37
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
