Commodity Online

NEW YORK: The strengthening US dollar and sliding oil prices has severely affected gold s value for the last couple of days the world over.

However, gold rebounded on bargain hunting but held near its lowest in a month, with its appeal as an alternative investment and a hedge against inflation shakened to a certain extent.

Gold hit a low of $US911.50 an ounce before rebounding to $US923.00/923.80 as bargain hunters resurfaced after a long Easter holiday, up from $US920.90/921.70 in New York on Monday, but it was still within sight of last week's one month low of $US904.65.

Gold futures for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $US5.1 an ounce to $US923.7 an ounce but off a record of $US1,033.90 an ounce hit last week.

Silver rose to $US17.35/17.40 an ounce from $US16.95/17.00 an ounce

Investors were on the sidelines after their confidence was hit by a recent broad based sell off in commodities. Gold has lost more than 10% in value since spiking to a lifetime high of $US 1030.80 an ounce on March 17.

Platinum fell while silver and palladium gained but stayed below recent highs. Precious metals, oil, grains and other agricultural products tumbled last week in a wave of selling as funds cashed out, taking profits at record high prices.

Spot platinum fell to $US1,865/1,875 an ounce from $US1,880/1,890 an ounce late in New York. Spot palladium rose to $US431/436 an ounce from $US427/432 an ounce.

The dollar held onto gains after better than expected US housing data revived optimism towards the world's biggest economy. The euro hardly changed at $US1.5433 well below a record high of $US1.5905 hit last week.

Gold