SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Gold extended a 6-percent decline in New York to hit its weakest level in 13 months on Thursday after the dollar surged against the euro, while a sell-off in equities also drove investors to sell bullion to pay losses.
Platinum slipped almost 6 percent to hit its lowest in more than four years as a stronger dollar put more pressure on the metal, already battered by falling demand from automakers. The prices of gold and platinum have converged to around $700.
Gold was trading at $725.60 an ounce, down $2.05 from New York's notional close on Wednesday, having hit an intraday low of $718.20 -- its lowest level since Sept. 2007.
Bullion has dropped more than a fifth since rising to a two-month high at $931 on Oct 10 as investors ditched gold and other risky assets for cash amid fears of a global recession -- a move that also sent other precious metals to multi-year lows.
'Gold's fortune is very much driven by the U.S. dollar. Whilst gold, you might think, should benefit from a safe haven perspective, the downward pressures are dominating it at present,' said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia.
'Physical buying has really started to dry up. India really has its fill of gold for the time being. Given the significant depreciation in the Indian rupee, gold is proving to be too expensive now to buy,' he said, referring to the world's largest buyer of the yellow metal.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency's value against a basket of six currencies, edged up to 85.625 after hitting a two-year peak of 86.070 as concerns about a worsening global economy prompted investors to cut risky assets.
The Nikkei average fell 6.6 percent to its lowest point in more than five years, putting pressure on gold as investors dumped the metal to pay margin calls.
'Technically, there may well be support around $700 but given what's driving the market, it may or may not prove very strong,' said Heathcote.
'I think the major support now is probably going to come in somwhere around the $693 level,' he said, referring to a level seen in September 2007.
Platinum was trading at $796.00 ounce, down $35.50 from New York's notional close, after falling as low as $782.50, its weakest since July 2004, as poor car sales and a slowing U.S. economy threatened to cut demand for autocalysts.
'There's some selling by speculators in Tokyo, which puts pressure on platinum. It's hard to say where gold and platinum are heading. In this stage, anything can happen,' said a dealer in Hong Kong.
'People don't trust anything. They just want the cash. People who have invested in stock markets have lost a lot of money, even small investors are affected. So I don't think they have money to buy gold,' he said.
The spread between platinum and gold prices has dropped significantly to less than $100 from more than $1,000 in March, when gold struck record at $1,030.80 and platinum also hit a lifetime high of $2,290 an ounce.
The automotive sector, which accounts for around half of all platinum demand, has been hit hard by the prospect of recession. A spate of carmakers in the U.S., Europe and Asia have reported falling sales.
Precious metals prices at 0214 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 725.60 -2.05 -0.28 -12.86 Spot Silver 9.41 -0.09 -0.95 -36.29 Spot Platinum 796.00 -35.50 -4.27 -47.63 Spot Palladium 173.00 -0.50 -0.29 -52.99 TOCOM Gold 2265.00 -140.00 -5.82 -25.98 17765 TOCOM Platinum 2500.00 -205.00 -7.58 -53.17 11783 TOCOM Silver 294.60 -20.60 -6.54 -45.55 1062 TOCOM Palladium 545.00 -28.00 -4.89 -59.66 390 Euro/Dollar 1.2824 Dollar/Yen 97.66 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
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