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SINGAPORE, Sep 15 (Reuters) Gold fell to its lowest level in nearly three months on Friday as investors continued to ditch their holdings, frustrated by the metal's lacklustre performance.

Other precious metals also slipped. Silver hit an eight-week low, platinum dropped to a level not seen in nearly three months and palladium tumbled nearly 6 percent.

Spot gold fell to $572.10 an ounce, its lowest since June 23, and was at $574.20/575.70 by 0242 GMT, down from $576.40/577.90 late in New York on Thursday, when it dropped nearly 2 percent.

Gold has has lost more than 20 percent in value since spiking to a 26-year high of $730 an ounce in mid-May, when investors poured money into precious metals as a hedge against global tensions, including those over U.S.-Iran relations, high oil prices and dollar instability.

''It looks like that the good time has stopped. The momentum is weak enough that people start selling. $543-$544 are key levels to watch,'' said Tobin Gorey, a commodities analyst of Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

Physical buyers, such as jewellery makers, could be waiting for more declines before stepping in, he said.

''I suspect if they see prices falling, they'll hold back and go along. I mean, no hurry to buy,'' said Gorey.

The key gold future on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, August 2007, dropped by its daily 60-yen limit to 2,193 yen ($18.66) per gram as falls in oil prices dented overall sentiment to induce heavy sales by Japanese investors.

Some dealers said sentiment turned sour after gold fell below $600 an ounce for the first time since June on Monday, driven by a drop in crude oil and firmer U.S. dollar.

U.S. crude oil futures hardly changed above $63 a barrel after falling for the eighth time in nine sessions a day earlier, as uncertainties over Iran's nuclear row offset the impact of ample U.S. oil supplies.

''People are nervous. They throw gold away because they don't know what's going on. There's a panic liquidation. The next levels that people are looking at are $550, $545 and $530,'' said a dealer in Singapore.

''But I don't think metal players are that negative. I don't think we are going to hit $500 and below it. That kind of scenario is not present at the moment. People are just frightened by the speed of the fall in prices,'' he said.

Gold's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) stood at 20.18 on Thursday, down from 24.46 on Monday. The market views an RSI of 30 or less as oversold and 70 or more as overbought.

Silver fell to its lowest level since July 19 at $10.60 an ounce, down from $10.69/10.76 late in New York.

Platinum hit a level not seen in nearly three months at $1,161 an ounce before rebounding to $1,164/1,169 an ounce, still down sharply from $1,181/1,186 late in the U.S. market.

Palladium fell to $308/313 an ounce from $325/330 late in New York.

In the currency market, the dollar was steady against the yen and the euro as investors kept positions light ahead of key U.S.

inflation data and a meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers.

The dollar was a touch higher at 117.70 yen , while the euro was little changed at $1.2720 .

Precious Metals Prices by 0255 GMT* Metal Last Net change Pct Move Gold 574.90 -1.10 -0.19 Platinum 1164.00 -6.00 -0.51 Palladium 308.00 -13.00 -4.05 Silver 10.70 0.01 +0.09 Change so far in 2006 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Gold 574.90 517.20 +11.16 Platinum 1164.00 968.00 +20.25 Palladium 308.00 254.00 +21.26 Silver 10.70 8.81 +21.45 ($1=117.49 yen) * The closing prices used to calculate the net change may differ from New York's last quoted prices.

REUTERS MQA PM1003