The following are New York midsession prices and market updates for precious metals and copper: GOLD * Gold for April delivery was down $6.80 at $916.40 an ounce at 12:08 p.m. EDT (1608 GMT) on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. * Ranged between $908.60 and $932.50. * Gold pressured as the dollar rallied. Investors cut exposure to risk and sought safety in the U.S. currency, weighing on dollar-denominated gold. [USD/] * Weakened by selling ahead of April futures' first notice day, scheduled on Tuesday - traders. * Initially, investors piled into gold as Wall Street fell nearly 4 percent because of bankruptcy fears for U.S. automakers and bank woes after Spain had to rescue regional savings bank CCM. [.N] * Commodities weakness also weighed on all metals. Reuters/Jefferies CRB index <.CRB> dropped 2 percent, led by a more than 5 percent decline of crude oil futures. * Noncommercial net long positions of gold up 1,532 at 151,927 lots, while open interest rose 2.9 percent to 387,177 lots in week up to March 24 - CFTC. [ID:nN27282282] * COMEX estimated 11 a.m. volume at 130,516 contracts, and options turnover at 9,663 lots. * The gold/oil ratio was at 18.46 versus 17.62 in the prior session. * Spot gold was at $916.80 an ounce, down 0.6 percent from its last quote in New York late Friday. * London afternoon fix at $928 an ounce. SILVER * COMEX May silver down 17.3 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $13.090 an ounce, tracking gold's weakness on sharply lower crude oil prices. * Ranged $12.915 to $13.350. * COMEX estimated 11 a.m. volume at 10,594 contracts. * Spot silver at $13.09 an ounce, down 1.4 percent from its previous finish. * Silver fixed in London at $12.96 an ounce. PLATINUM * NYMEX April platinum down $7.00 at $1,121.00 an ounce as consolidation continued after it reached a six-month high last week. * Platinum used in autocatalysts to clean car emissions has recently tumbled alongside deteriorating sales in the auto sector. * Spot platinum at $1,113.50 an ounce, down 0.9 percent from its previous close. PALLADIUM * June palladium down $8.50 at $215.20 an ounce, tracking platinum's weakness. * Spot palladium at $213.00 an ounce, down 2.1 percent from its previous finish. COPPER * Benchmark COMEX copper for May delivery down 6.45 cents, or 3.5 percent, at $1.7715 a lb. * Session range from $1.7525 to $1.8460, the contract's lowest point in more than a week. * COMEX copper dragged down by sharp correction in U.S. equities and a stronger tone in the dollar - brokers. * COMEX estimated futures volume at 10,040 lots by 11 a.m. * Zambia, Africa's top copper producer, will raise its stake in foreign-owned copper mining firms to up to 35 percent to have a bigger say in their running and prevent mine closures, a cabinet minister said on Monday. [ID:nLU281212] * Recent cutbacks in copper exploration and development could be setting up the industry for a supply squeeze down the road that could drive prices sharply higher - Fred McMahon, director of the Center for Global Mining Studies at the Fraser Institute. [ID:nN26474799] * London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouse stocks rose by 650 tonnes on Monday, bringing total inventory levels to 501,400 tonnes. * Canceled warrants -- material earmarked for delivery -- increased to 25,500 tonnes on Monday from 18,900 tonnes on Friday. * COMEX copper warehouse stocks added another 653 short tons to 45,774 short tons as of Friday. * COMEX copper net speculative short position grew to 19,889 lots in the week ended March 24, from 19,555 lots a week earlier. [ID:nN27282282] * London Metal Exchange copper for three months delivery was last quoted at $3,920 a tonne, down $130 from Friday's kerb close. (Reporting by Frank Tang and Chris Kelly; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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