TOKYO, Oct 17 Gold inched higher on Wednesday, hovering under a 28-year high marked the p

TOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) Gold inched higher on Wednesday, hovering under a 28-year high marked the previous day, underpinned by firm oil prices and geopolitical tensions, while Tokyo futures retreated from a 23-year high.

-- By 0049 GMT, cash gold was at $761.80/762.60 an ounce, up from $758.10/758.90 late in New York on Tuesday, when it hit a 28-year peak of $766.60.

-- Benchmark gold futures for August delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange were down 0.8 percent. The contract ended on Tuesday at the day's peak of 2,907 yen a gram, the highest since October 1984.

-- Gold was supported by rising tension between Turkey and Iraq. It is often preferred as a safe haven in times of crisis.

-- On Wednesday, Turkey will defy international pressure and grant its troops permission to enter northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels based there, though it has played down expectations of any imminent attack. [ID:nL16180893] -- Firmness in energy prices, partly due to the Middle East tension, also lent support as gold is usually seen as a hedge against inflation.

-- U.S. crude futures retreated on Wednesday in a knee-jerk reaction after topping $88 a barrel to a record high the previous day amid concerns over tight inventories in consumer nations and tensions in the oil-producing area.

-- NYMEX crude for November delivery fell to $87.47 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. It had settled $1.48 higher at $87.61 in New York on Tuesday.

-- COMEX gold futures rose in Asia, with the most active December contract trading up $2.8 an ounce at $764.8. It settled down 20 cents at $762 in New York.

-- In central bank gold sales, gold and gold receivables held by euro-zone central banks fell by 108 million euros to 185.975 billion euros in the week ending Oct. 12, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday. Gold holdings fell because of sales by two euro-zone central banks.

-- India's largest mutual fund, Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd, launched an exchange-traded fund that would invest in physical gold. Three of India's 32 mutual fund firms offer gold ETFs. [ID:nBOM251499] -- Anglo Platinum , the world's top producer of platinum, said it is revamping its safety strategy and may cut the number of contract workers who make up about half of its staff to boost safety. [ID:nL16637666] -- Platinum traded at $1,415/1,420 an ounce, up from $1,410/1,415 in late New York. It hit a record high of $1,428 on Monday.

-- Palladium edged up to $369/374 an ounce from $365/370 in New York. Silver traded at $13.63/13.66 an ounce, compared with $13.57/13.62.

Precious metals prices at 0113 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 762.00 2.20 +0.29 19.87 Spot Silver 13.65 0.05 +0.37 6.23 Spot Platinum 1419.00 9.00 +0.64 25.35 Spot Palladium 369.00 4.00 +1.10 11.14 TOCOM Gold 2890.00 -17.00 -0.58 18.20 37545 TOCOM Platinum 5243.00 -26.00 -0.49 23.25 12984 TOCOM Silver 515.40 -12.00 -2.28 4.48 683 TOCOM Palladium 1410.00 -20.00 -1.40 12.35 227 Euro/Dollar 1.4173 Dollar/Yen 116.77 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for silver which is in yen per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per ounce.

REUTERS CS BST0700