TOKYO, Oct 18 Gold inched up on Thursday after slipping from a near 28-year high the prev

TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) Gold inched up on Thursday after slipping from a near 28-year high the previous day as investment funds sold to adjust their overbought positions following rallies in the last few weeks.

-- Yet underlying sentiment for precious metals was bullish due to persisting geopolitical concerns, with worries about possible military action by Turkey in northern Iraq.

-- Bullish oil prices continue to intensify inflation concerns to encourage investors to buy gold.

-- Gold was expected to be supported by strong bargain-hunting appetite from jewellery makers and other end-users, such as electronics device makers.

-- By 0032 GMT, spot gold rose to $756.90/757.70 an ounce from $754.10/754.90 late in New York on Wednesday.

-- COMEX gold futures were up in Asia, with the December contract trading up $0.5 or 0.07 percent at $762.8 from the New York settlement on Wednesday.

-- Japanese precious metals jumped on active bargain-hunting by retail players following a sharp drop the previous day.

-- Benchmark August 2008 gold on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose about 0.4 percent and the key TOCOM platinum over 1 percent from previous closes.

-- Oil surged to an all-time high of $89 on Wednesday on concerns over tensions between Turkey and Iraq and a potential supply crunch this winter, but it edged down by late U.S.

trade.

-- On Thursday, U.S. crude futures slipped in Asia, extending the previous session's decline on the possibility of an OPEC output hike and as investors worried over an economic slowdown in top oil consumer the United States.

-- NYMEX crude for November delivery fell 19 cents to $87.21 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. It had closed 21 cents lower in New York at $87.40 a barrel -- its first loss in seven sessions -- after touching a fresh record $89 on Wednesday.

-- Platinum was trading near a record high reached the previous day. On Thursday, it was little changed at $1,435/1,440 an ounce from late U.S. level.

-- South Africa's Northam Platinum Ltd said it had shut its mine early on Tuesday after a worker was killed in a rock-fall at its underground mine. The mine produces about 325,000 ounces of platinum a year. [ID:nWEB8856] -- Palladium inched up to $371/376 an ounce from $369/372 in New York.

-- Silver fell to $13.64/13.67 an ounce from $13.58/13.63 late in New York.

Precious metals prices at 0032 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 757.00 2.40 +0.32 19.08 Spot Silver 13.61 0.00 +0.00 5.91 Spot Platinum 1437.00 2.00 +0.14 26.94 Spot Palladium 370.00 1.00 +0.27 11.45 TOCOM Gold 2861.00 5.00 +0.18 17.01 22815 TOCOM Platinum 5219.00 50.00 +0.97 22.68 6945 TOCOM Silver 512.90 3.50 +0.69 3.97 349 TOCOM Palladium 1413.00 20.00 +1.44 12.59 201 Euro/Dollar 1.4200 Dollar/Yen 116.43 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for silver which is in yen per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per ounce.

REUTERS CS BST0643