* Will the market see more QE from Fed?
* Silver marks fresh peak, approaches $21 an ounce
* Analysts eye $1,300, $1,350 as upside targets
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Pratima Desai
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Gold swept to a record high
above $1,275 per ounce on Thursday, as currency market jitters
and broader economic uncertainty attracted more investors to the
metal's safe-haven credentials.
Strong investment demand pushed spot silver <XAG=>, often
seen as a cheap proxy for gold, to $20.75 an ounce -- its
highest level since March 2008.
Spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,273.75 a troy ounce at 1450
GMT, compared with $1,265.65 an ounce at the close on Wednesday.
Earlier on Thursday it hit a record $1,277.70 an ounce. U.S.
December gold futures also rose to a historic high <GCZ0>.
"It's an insurance policy at the end of the day," said Robin
Bhar, analyst at Credit Agricole. "All the ingredients are still
there -- all the uncertainty and fear -- to keep gold
underpinned."
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies <.DXY>,
bolstering the case for bullion, with currency markets
struggling to settle after Japan's huge intervention to weaken
the yen a day earlier. World stocks also slipped. <MKTS/GLOB>
Analysts and traders are looking to $1,300 an ounce as a
major psychological marker, with $1,350 seen as the next
potential target. But some are sceptical about the real strength
of the rally.
"I'm quite surprised we are here really, gold seems to be
playing follow the leader with silver... and the dollar's
weakness," Simon Weeks, head of precious metals at Scotia
Mocatta, said.
The move was also not being confirmed in bullion priced in
other currencies such as the euro <XAUEUR=R> and Swiss Franc
<XAUCHF=R>, which would normally signal a potent impulse higher,
he said.
QE11 EYED
A potential trigger for further gains could come from the
U.S. Federal Reserve, which meets on Sept. 21 and could announce
further quantitative easing to stave off economic slowdown in
the world's largest economy.
"If the Fed says next week it is going to do more
quantitative easing... the inflation bugs will have a field
day," said David Thurtell, analyst at Citi, who thinks gold
could see the $1,300 level next week.
Quantitative easing is normally a process by which central
banks attempt to pump money into the economy by buying bonds.
Excess liquidity could lead to too much money chasing too few
goods or services, resulting in upward price pressures.
Also on the agenda is the U.S. fiscal outlook with the start
of the new financial year in the United States.
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For an analysis on the use of gold as a hedge against
inflation and deflation, click on: []
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INVESTMENT
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings fell to 1,294.746
tonnes by Sept. 15 from 1,298.698 tonnes on Sept. 14. []
But the fall follows a six-tonne rise the previous day.
Positive macro data is also partly behind the run higher in
industrial precious metals such as silver <XAG=>, platinum
<XPT=> and palladium <XPD=>. Spot silver was bid at $20.72 an
ounce from $20.49 late on Wednesday.
Spot platinum was bid at $1,612.50 an ounce from $1,604.50
in New York late on Wednesday, when it touched a four-month high
of $1,619.50. Palladium was little changed at $554.50.
On the mining front, South Africa's National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday that workers at Northam
Platinum <NHMJ.J> had rejected the company's 8.5 percent revised
wage offer and would continue with their strike action.
(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown; editing by Sue Thomas
and Lin Noueihed)
