Tokyo gold futures extended gains on Friday, marking a 13-and-a-half-year high as a strong New York close and weaker yen spurred buying, while platinum closed slightly mixed. The benchmark June gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange finished up 16 yen per gram at 1,577 yen, the highest since December 1991 and just a yen off the day's high.
The session trough was 1,568 yen. Other months rose by 14-16 yen. A Tokyo analyst said the next, near-term resistance was likely to be 1,594 yen according to charts, and that further gains appeared likely. "Medium to long term, I think we are looking at TOCOM gold topping 1,600 yen," he said.
Heavy fund buying due to strong technical factors has lifted the gold benchmark by about 14 percent since the year's low marked in mid-January.
US gold futures rose to their highest level in more than five weeks on Thursday on a weaker dollar and some heavy institutional buying.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, benchmark December gold closed up $1.00 at $443.70 per ounce, its highest since June 29.
In the currency market, the yen hit a three-month low against the euro and fell versus the dollar, hit by political uncertainty in Japan.
Prime Minister Janitor Koizumi will face a political showdown on Monday when parliament's upper house is due to vote on bills to privatise Japan's postal system.
The outcome of the vote is uncertain, and Koizumi has said rejection of the bills would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence, a tacit threat to call a snap election.
The dollar fetched around 111.70 yen, compared with late US trade of 111.23 yen. The euro rose to around 138.20 yen, its highest level since late April.
Spot gold was fetching $438.10/$438.90 an ounce at TOCOM's closing bell, compared with $438.00/$438.80 last quoted in New York. Traders awaited the release of key US jobs data that is expected to provide a clue to the dollar's direction.
Total gold turnover on TOCOM was estimated at healthy 71,619 lots, up from 48,584 lots on Thursday. Platinum closed mixed after climbing to a near 19-year high this week
Benchmark June platinum futures closed flat at 3,237 yen per gram, after moving in a range of 3,218 to 3,248 yen. Spot platinum was $910/$915, up from New York levels of $905/$910 an ounce.
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