US gold rises 2 pct on crude rally, inflation fears

NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures ended nearly
2 percent higher on Thursday, reversing the previous session's
sharp decline, as a bullish forecast by Goldman Sachs on crude
oil prices ignited a commodities rally and boosted
inflation-hedge buying.

For the latest detailed report, click on [GOL/].

GOLD

* August GCQ9 settled up $16.70, or 1.7 percent, at
$982.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.

* Ranged from $962 to $983.40.

* Gold rally predominantly driven by oil, which has
contributed to the dollar weakness and has provided support on
almost every major break in gold futures - Frank McGhee, head
precious metals trader with Integrated Brokerage Services.

* Goldman Sachs raised its oil price forecast for the end
of 2009 to $85 a barrel from $65 and introduced a new end-2010
forecast of $95. Crude oil CLc1 rose 5 percent to nearly $70
per barrel, the highest level in 2009. [O/R]

* Goldman said in a research note that the recent rally in
U.S. crude oil is likely to be the first stage in an oil price
rally that it expects will accompany a recovery in economic
activity. [ID:nL4422610]

* The Goldman view encouraged investors to reenter the gold
market after Wednesday's across-the-board commodities sell-off
on fund selling - George Nickas, commodities broker at FC
Stone.

* Gold rose in spite of a slight rise by the U.S. dollar
and a drop in the bullion holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the
world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund.
[ID:nT144303]

* Gold could weaken further, as the metal has corrected
sharply after it approached the $1,000 level each time in the
past two years - analysts.

* COMEX estimated 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) volume at 100,422
lots

* COMEX gold futures open interest up 4,866 at 395,923
lots.

* Gold/oil ratio at 14.14, lower than the 14.55 of the
previous session.

* Spot gold XAU= traded at $980.20 at 2 p.m. EDT, up 1.9
percent from its late Wednesday quote in New York.

* London gold fix XAUFIX= $970.75 an ounce.

SILVER

* July SIN9 finished up 58.5 cents, or 3.8 percent, at
$15.895 an ounce, rebounding from Wednesday's 4 percent
decline.

* Ranged from $15.065 to $15.925.

* COMEX estimated 1 p.m. volume at 31,015 lots.

* The holdings of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV: Quote, Profile, Research) held
unchanged at 8,605.43 tonnes on June 3, near its record high.

* Spot silver XAG= was at $15.87 an ounce, up 3.7 percent
from its previous finish.

* London silver fix XAGFIX= at $15.305 an ounce.

PLATINUM

* July PLN9 ended up $48.80, or 3.9 percent, at $1,293.30
an ounce, after reaching a contract high of $1,301.90.

* Broad-based commodities strength and optimism about the
auto industry sparked a platinum rally - traders.

* PGMs buying increased after Goldman Sachs said that U.S.
auto sales are likely to improve in the second half of 2009.
[ID:nBNG383125]

* The global car industry accounts for 60 percent of total
platinum demand for use in automobile catalytic converters.

* Spot platinum XPT= at $1,272 an ounce, up 3.1 percent
from its late Wednesday quote.

PALLADIUM

* September PAU9 closed up $12.80, or 5.3 percent, at
$255.40 an ounce, tracking platinum's gains.

* Spot palladium XPD= was at $252 an ounce, up 4.8
percent from its previous finish.
(Reporting by Frank Tang; Editing by Walter Bagley)