Gold extended gains to near a two-month high on Friday, supported by a weaker dollar and bullion's appeal as an inflation hedge on rising oil prices and aggressive fiscal spending steps by major governments. The precious metal was up about 1 percent this week and has gained about $80, or 9 percent, this month, putting it on track for its biggest monthly rise in six months. "Gold seems to be getting support from oil, as high oil prices can lead to fears of inflation," said David Moore, a commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Oil and gold might move together at times as both are seen in some way as a real commodity investment," he said. Gold rose 0.5 percent to $963.50 per ounce by 0215 GMT, after rising as high as $964.60 earlier on Friday. Gold climbed more than 1 percent on Thursday to a two-month high of $964.95 an ounce, fuelled by a weaker dollar, inflation concerns and renewed buying by investment funds. U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCQ9 inched up 0.2 percent to $964.80 an ounce, compared to $963.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar fell against the yen and the euro on Friday. The dollar stayed pressured against the single currency after strong U.S. durable goods data on Thursday prompted investors to trim holdings of the safe-haven currency. Asian stocks were marginally higher on Friday. Some traders said gold's latest strengthening may not have a direct link to heightening geopolitical risks in Asia. South Korea and the United States raised the military alert level for the Korean peninsula on Thursday after the communist North warned the truce ending the Korean War was dead and it was ready to attack. [ID:nSEO333114] Investment into gold-backed exchange-traded funds has stalled for a four straight session, as holdings at the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, remained unchanged at 1,118.76 tonnes as of May 28. [GOL/SPDR] Precious metals prices at 0230 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 962.55 3.75 +0.39 9.36 Spot Silver 15.25 0.13 +0.86 34.72 Spot Platinum 1164.00 24.50 +2.15 24.89 Spot Palladium 233.00 8.00 +3.56 26.29 TOCOM Gold 2994.00 43.00 +1.46 16.36 41097 TOCOM Platinum 3643.00 125.00 +3.55 37.37 13482 TOCOM Silver 471.10 15.40 +3.38 47.54 359 TOCOM Palladium 735.00 32.00 +4.55 33.64 157 Euro/Dollar 1.3981 Dollar/Yen 96.38 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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