Thomson Reuters



LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose to a record high
above $1,360 an ounce on Thursday, extending earlier gains made
on the back of a slide in the U.S. dollar and the potential for
key Asian consumer Vietnam to resume bullion imports.

At 0828 GMT spot gold was quoted at $1,362.40 an
ounce, up from $1,345.80 late on Wednesday, having risen as high
as $1,364.60, marking a new all-time peak.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery hit a
lifetime high of $1,364.70 an ounce and were last bid $16.0 an
ounce up at $1,363.50.

Yen-priced gold meanwhile rose to its highest
since late June and was last quoted at 112,311 yen an ounce,
showing a 0.5 percent gain on the day, down a touch from the
session peak at 112,484 yen an ounce.

Vietnam, Asia's second largest consumer of gold after India,
said it might consider granting permits for bullion imports if
prices on the domestic market rose "unreasonably high."
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Imports were banned in mid-2008 to tackle a trade deficit.

The dollar meanwhile was mired near 15-year lows against the
Japanese yen and hit record lows against the Swiss franc
as investor expectation for U.S. policy makers to take
steps to keep rates low undermined the U.S. currency.

(Reporting by Amanda Cooper; editing by Keiron Henderson)