Gold rises 1 percent after Japan’s quake (Reuters) (14-03-2011)

SINGAPORE - Bullion rose 1 percent on Monday after a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan and efforts to prevent a nuclear catastrophe, sending premiums for gold bars to their highest level since February in Tokyo.

Spot gold added $4.74 to $1,422.44 an ounce by 0429 GMT (12:29 a.m. ET) after rising as high as $1,431.89 an ounce as markets began estimating the huge economic costs caused by the disaster.

Bullion was still off a record high of $1,444.40 hit last week while U.S. gold futures for April rose $1.2 an ounce to $1,423 an ounce.

Gold bars were quoted at a premium of $1 an ounce to the spot London prices in Tokyo, up from zero last week and a discount of 50 cents two weeks ago.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings edged down to 1,215.475 tonnes by March 11, their lowest since May 2010, from 1,217.295 tonnes on March 7, as some investors booked profits from gold's rise to a record.

Silver was off an intraday high while Platinum dropped more than 2 percent, reaching its weakest since early January on falling equities, putting pressure on palladium.

Premiums were steady in other parts of Asia, with no signs of an increase in buying related to the disaster in Japan. Dealers quoted premiums at $1 to the spot London prices in Singapore and at between $1 and $1.5 in Hong Kong.

Source: Reuters