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SINGAPORE, Sep 29 (Reuters) Gold fell below $600 on Friday, tracking weaker crude oil prices.

-- Spot gold hit a high of $601.00 an ounce before dipping to $599.85/600.35 an ounce by 0055 GMT, down from $603.00/604.00 late in New York on Thursday.

-- Benchmark gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell four yen yer gram to 2,292 yen.

-- U.S. crude oil futures eased for a second session towards $62 a barrel on Friday, little affected after a top OPEC official said some other members of the cartel had decided to cut oil exports after a sharp decline in prices.

-- The dollar was little changed at 117.80 yen after climbing 0.2 percent on Thursday. The euro was flat at around $1.2705 .

-- Silver edged down to $11.46/11.51 an ounce from $11.56/11.63 an ounce in New York.

-- Platinum fell to $1,140/1,145 an ounce from $1,150/1,155 an ounce.

-- Palladium slipped to $317.50/322.50 an ounce from $319/324 late in New York.

Precious Metals Prices by 0053 GMT* Metal Last Net change Pct Move Gold 599.50 -2.90 -0.48 Platinum 1140.00 -10.00 -0.87 Palladium 317.50 -1.50 -0.47 Silver 11.43 -0.10 -0.87 Change so far in 2006 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Gold 599.50 517.20 +15.91 Platinum 1140.00 968.00 +17.77 Palladium 317.50 254.00 +25.00 Silver 11.43 8.81 +29.74 REUTERS AD RAI0720