Gold fell around 1 percent in Asian trading on Wednesday while silver and platinum were near 1-month lows after a rising US dollar triggered panic selling. Spot gold fell to $425.80 an ounce, its lowest since February 21, before rebounding to $426.50/427.20 by 0220 GMT. That compared with $431.00/431.75 traded late in New York. "I don't rule out the possibility that gold falls further to $420 because people get panicky.
But once the selling pressure is over, price should go up again," said one dealer in Singapore.
Some dealers pegged immediate support at around $423 an ounce, a level last seen in February. Resistance was pegged at $442, a previous high.
The benchmark February gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell five yen per gram to 1,451 yen, reflecting a weak New York COMEX market.
The dollar held near a one-month high against the euro after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates and indicated it may speed up the pace of rate rises if inflation pressures picked up.
Higher rates tend to boost demand for dollar deposits and may prompt some funds to switch out of assets such as commodities. A firming dollar makes dollar-priced precious metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The euro was trading at $1.3079, not far from a one-month low of $1.3054 hit on Tuesday.
Gold often goes in the opposite direction of the dollar as investors use it as a currency alternative.
In other precious metals, spot platinum was at $857/862 an ounce, down sharply from $$862/866 in New York. The metal had fallen to $853 in Asia, its lowest since February 17. Sister metal palladium was trading at $196/201 an ounce, against $198/201 an ounce in late US trade.
Silver fell to $6.88, its lowest in more than a month, before rebounding to $6.92/6.95. That compared with $7.04/7.07 in New York.
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