Gold edged up in Asia's afternoon trade on Thursday and looked well-supported around $400

by soaring 【C1】______ oil prices rekindling concern over inflation, traders said.

Spot gold was at $404.20/404.70 a(an) 【C2】______ by 0412 GMT compared with $404.00/404.50 【C3】______ quoted in New York on Wednesday. Dealers pegged key resistance at $405 an ounce.

Dealers said investors were likely to lock in profits at current 【C4】______ prices but rising oil prices have 【C5】______ some physical demand. Gold has 【C6】______ by nearly nine percent since 【C7】______ this year's low of $371 an ounce in May.

"The outlook is still for oil prices to reach $50 a barrel, having already risen $10 since the end of June and a whopping $16 a barrel or 50 percent over the last year," N M Rothschild said in a(n) 【C8】______ .

"The market remains 【C9】______ about supply disruptions from Iraq. Higher oil prices bode well for gold, as the potential for inflation increases, which gold has historically been seen as a hedge against," it said.

In the Tokyo gold 【C10】______ , the benchmark June 2005 gold contract rose one yen per gram to 1,424 yen.

Gold has been 【C11】______ around $400 this week, but it is still some way off the heights 【C12】______ in January, when the market hit a 15-year peak of $430.50 as the euro 【C13】______ against the U. S. currency.

The euro was little changed at $1.2337. Some dealers pegged upside target at $410 an ounce but any move upward would 【C14】______ on how the dollar behaved against other 【C15】______ .

"There's a little bit of physical demand but overall trading is quiet. I think trading range in Asia will be between $404 to $406 an ounce," said one dealer in Hong Kong SAR, a key bullion trading center in East Asia.

【C1】______

A．rude

B．rough

C．pure

D．crude