Gold below $800 first time since Dec

"It's still early to say it's the end of the super-cycle but if the markets continue to fall like they are doing now, I am sure many people will be talking about it very soon,'' said Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "The region around $750 is very important because this is a longterm gold uptrend support. So, if it's broken,gold's really gone,'' he said. AGENCIES

Singapore:
Gold tumbled nearly 3% on Friday and slipped below $800 for the first time since D e c e m b e r, with investors' confidence in precious metals shattered by falling oil prices and a surging US dollar.
    Silver, which normally tracks gold, was the hardest hit, falling more than 12% to its lowest since last September. Platinum fell 3% and palladium was at its lowest in nearly two years.
    Tokyo's platinum and gold futures hit limit down. Spot gold hit an intraday low of $787.10, its weakest since December 17, down from $811.25/812.65 late in New York on Thursday and well below an all-time high of $1,030.80 in March.
    "The dollar's continuing uptrend is a key factor depressing commodities in general and triggering heavy sales in gold,'' said Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities in Tokyo.
    "Japanese players are dumping their long-term positions after breaking through key levels this week. The market may be oversold, but the market is still in a downward trend.'' Gold has lost much of this year's gains to profit taking, oil's declines from record highs and more recently the dollar's rally against abasket of currencies which reduced the metal's safe-haven appeal.