The following are New York midsession prices and market updates for precious metals and copper: GOLD * Gold for February delivery slips $2.80 to $852.40 an ounce at 12:29 p.m. EST (1729 GMT) on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. * The range spanned $843.00 to $864.60. * Gold's rise capped by selling by bullion banks as February futures repeatedly failed to clearly breach above the $860 an ounce area - gold trader. * Profit taking seen after the previous session's 2 percent rally based on safe-haven buying. On Wednesday, U.S. stocks jumped due to a rebound of financial stocks. [.N] * Gold looked to de-link from the currency and energy markets for now. February futures dropped in spite of a weaker dollar against the euro and higher crude oil prices. [USD/] [O/R] * Gold should emerge as a proven currency after massive printing of paper currency by governments to boost the global economy - trader. * Futures held firm as the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings jumped to a record 802.90 tonnes of gold as of Jan. 20, up 7.65 tonnes from 795.25 tonnes on Jan. 15. [ID;nSP302775] * COMEX estimated 10:00 a.m. volume at 76,594 lots, option turnover at 5,021 lots. * Spot gold was at $851.90 an ounce, down 0.4 percent from the last trade on Tuesday. * London afternoon gold fix $849.25 an ounce. SILVER * March climbs 3.0 cents to $11.205 an ounce on pent-up buying. * Ranged $11.040 to $11.505. * COMEX estimated 10:00 a.m. volume at 8,514 lots. * Spot silver quoted at $11.20 an ounce, up 0.8 percent from its previous session close. * Silver fixed in London at $11.34 an ounce. PLATINUM * NYMEX April platinum slips $27.70, or 2.9 percent, to $921.60 an ounce as economic worries keep industrial metals such as copper and platinum from rising further. * Spot platinum was quoted at $915.00 an ounce, 2.4 percent lower than its last finish. PALLADIUM * NYMEX March palladium eases $1.05 to $183.50 an ounce, tracking platinum's weakness. * Spot palladium was quoted at $182.00 an ounce, essentially unchanged when compared with its previous close on Tuesday. COPPER * COMEX copper for March delivery sinks 6.45 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $1.44 a lb. * The session range from $1,4315 to $1.5175. * COMEX estimated 10:00 a.m. volume at 5,099 lots. * Copper dragged down in sympathy with wider losses in the London base metals complex after news the world's largest miner BHP Billiton planned to slash 6,000 jobs due to the global recession. [ID:nSYD409818] * Worrisome demand outlook highlighted by steady influx of material into global exchange-monitored warehouses adding to the bearish tone - brokers. * London Metal Exchange copper stocks rose by 8,375 tonnes to 417,475 tonnes, their highest level since January 2004. * COMEX copper stocks increased 240 short tons to 36,960 short tons as of Tuesday. * Copper's weaker demand outlook reflected in growing surplus of the metal. * Global copper market saw a surplus of 286,000 tonnes in the first 11 months of 2008, compared with a 201,000 deficit in the same period in 2007 - the World Bureau of Metal Statistics. [ID:nLL201967] * London Metal Exchange copper for three months delivery ended down $127 at $3,215 a tonne, after dealing in a session range between $3,185.50 and $3,355.

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