NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Precious metal futures finished lower Wednesday on speculative selling as traders pocketed profits in gold, silver and platinum after rallies fizzled earlier this week, traders and analysts said.
Gold prices slid further from Monday's 6-week peak to dip below $360 an ounce support, also coming under renewed pressure from a stronger U.S. dollar against key currencies, which hurt gold demand overseas.
"It is all spec and almost was kind of predictable in that there was going to be some pullback because of the dollar," said George Gero, a director at the International Precious Metals Institute.
Newly most-active December gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division fell $5.50 to $358.10 an ounce, after trading from $363.60 to $356.60, its lowest close since July 22. Front-month August lost $5.50 to $356.20.
Some of the decline was chalked up to liquidation amid last-ditch rollover from the August contract into December futures before the start of August delivery this week.
"The pullback comes at an unusual time of the month when traders are going to have to think about rollover or liquidation" to avoid taking delivery of metal, Gero said.
Estimated final COMEX gold turnover reached 90,000 lots, compared with Tuesday's tally of 86,114 contracts.
Spot gold last was worth $355.90/6.40 versus Tuesday's late quote in New York at $360.75/1.45. London dealers fixed the afternoon spot reference price at $357.75.
"Gold on Monday touched resistance (near $370) and backed off with the weakness in the euro. It's following the euro pretty closely," one metals desk trader said.
The euro last fetched $1.1364/67, off from $1.1442/46 previously. A robust dollar usually dents demand for dollar-denominated gold in foreign currencies in key markets like Europe and Asia.
Traders pegged support in December futures at $357 and ounce, followed by $350, with resistance at $368.
Silver piggy-backed on gold after surging on Monday to a contract peak and its highest value since Feb. 2000.
COMEX September silver dropped 10.5 cents to $5.06 an ounce, trading $5.16 to $5.035. Monday's contract high hit $5.23.
Spot silver was at $5.06/5.08 versus New York's Tuesday close at $5.14/5.16. Silver on Wednesday fixed at a 3-1/4 year high at $5.10, compared with $5.02 Tuesday.
In other metals, platinum stumbled after Tuesday's jump to a contract peak of $701 in futures failed to draw follow-through buying overnight in Asia.
"There was some ACCESS selling in the morning and then as soon as we came into the second fix at nine o'clock, the bids dried up," said Ralph D'Esposito at RJ Futures in New York.
NYMEX October platinum fell $13 to $685.00 an ounce. Spot platinum was at $686.50/691.50.
"I think in the next couple of sessions, we'll take out the stops and go down to $675-$670. But overall, the market will go sharply higher because platinum is in demand," D'Esposito said.
September palladium shed $1.35 to $177 an ounce. Spot palladium last traded at $174.50/180.50.