PRECIOUS-Gold matches record, then falls; silver steadies

                                
 * Gold to fall to $1,382/oz-technicals [ID:nL3E6N8020]
                                
 * Coming up: U.S. Mortgage index Weekly; 1200 GMT

 (Updates prices, adds quotes)	
                                
 By Lewa Pardomuan	
                                
 SINGAPORE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Gold slipped below a lifetime 
high on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar firmed, while silver 
regained strength after holdings in the world's largest 
silver-backed exchange-traded fund hit another record.	
                                
  U.S. government bond yields rose, lifting the dollar 
 and weighing on commodities after President Obama 
proposed a deal on tax cuts and unemployment payments that 
could boost economic growth in the short term but raise debt 
levels longer term. 
                                
 Gold fell $9.21 to $1,391.65 an ounce by 0319 GMT 
after rising as high as $1,430.95, matching a record hit in 
the previous session. Trading was volatile on Tuesday, when 
gold dropped after hitting the lifetime high on technical 
selling.	
                                
 But with the debt crisis in Europe far from over and 
tensions in the Korean peninsula still brewing, gold could try 
new highs again, which could lift other precious metals, 
dealers said. 	
                                
 North Korea fired artillery into its west coast waters on 
Wednesday, briefly pushing down nervous South Korean financial 
markets but they quickly recovered after media reports said it 
was only a military drill. [ID:nN07104127]	
                                
 "It doesn't look like it's bearish. We've just got a bit 
of profit taking following the dollar. I suspect it will 
resume its upward movement," said Darren Heathcote, head of 
trading at Investec Australia. 	
                                
 "Silver is tracking gold's movements and is a beneficiary 
of any positive sentiment for gold." 	
                                
  Silver hardly changed after rising to a 30-year 
high at $30.68 an ounce on Tuesday before falling sharply to 
hit a low around $28 an ounce. 	
                                
  The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, 
iShares Silver Trust , said its holdings hit another 
record at 10,941.34 tonnes by Dec. 7 from 10,816.69 tonnes on 
Dec 6. For details of the ETF's silver holdings, click on:      	
http://link.reuters.com/wux96h  	
                                
 U.S. gold futures for February fell more than 1 
percent to below $1,400 an ounce. 	
                                
 Spot gold is developing a bearish trend towards the 
wave "b" bottom at $1,350.27 per ounce over the next few 
trading sessions, and an immediate target will be $1,382, 
according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities 
 and energy technicals.	
                                
 For a 24-hour gold technical outlook:	
                                
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100812090926.jpg 	
                                
 The U.S. dollar rose in early Asia on Wednesday and looked 
set to climb further in the short term, having powered across 
the board overnight on the back of a spike in U.S. bond yields.	
                                
 "I've some physical interest here and there but it's not 
that much," said a dealer in Singapore, who trades gold bars.	
                                
 "People don't seem to know how to react to the price 
movements." 	
                                
 The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR 
Gold Trust , said its holdings eased to 1,297.726 tonnes 
by Dec 7 from 1,298.030 tonnes on Dec 3.  	
                                
 Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.7 percent on Wednesday, at one 
point hitting its highest level in almost seven months after 
the proposed extension in U.S. tax cuts helped the dollar jump 
against the yen. 
                                
 	
  Precious metals prices at 0319 GMT                                        
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg  Turnover          
  Spot Gold        1391.65   -9.21   -0.66     27.01                        
  Spot Silver        28.61   -0.05   -0.17     69.99                        
  Spot Platinum    1680.49   -8.01   -0.47     14.55                        
  Spot Palladium    726.00   -3.97   -0.54     79.04                        
  TOCOM Gold       3753.00  -31.00   -0.82     15.16        63881           
  TOCOM Platinum   4575.00  -36.00   -0.78      4.43        10133           
  TOCOM Silver       77.30   -2.80   -3.50     49.52         3236           
  TOCOM Palladium  1965.00  -62.00   -3.06     68.67         2195           
  Euro/Dollar       1.3224                                                  
  Dollar/Yen         83.69                                                  
                                
                                                                         
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.                 
 (Editing by Himani Sarkar)	
 
 
 
                                
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