* Spot gold to rise to $1,430-technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. initial claims; 1330 GMT
(Adds details, comments; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Spot gold hovered near
three-week highs on Wednesday, underpinned by a weaker dollar
and strong physical demand, while silver inched towards its
30-year peak supported by strength in industrial metals.
The dollar softened a notch on Thursday, as traders took a
dip in U.S. bond yields as a cue to sell the greenback.
Spot silver rose to $30.64 earlier, just off the
30-year peak of $30.68 hit on Dec 7. It was trading at $30.60
by 0304 GMT.
U.S. silver futures edged down 0.1 percent to
$30.67 an ounce.
The strength in industrial metals, led by copper, helped
buoy silver and platinum group metals, traders said.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
held steady after reaching a record of $9,447 a tonne on
Wednesday.
"Copper prices have been very firm, supporting silver as
well as palladium," said a Hong Kong-based dealer, adding that
short-covering in silver also helped push prices higher.
He expected silver to trade in the range of $30 to $35 in
2011, with $40 as a potential target.
"But it will depend on performance of gold and other
metals."
Technical analysis showed that spot silver might be due
for a deep correction as the rise was seen exhausted, said
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
"A rising wedge is contracting to a point on the daily
chart, with a peak likely to form around $32 per ounce, and
the RSI indicator shows multiple bearish divergence, which
signals a bearish reversal soon," said Wang.
"A break below a pivotal support at $29 would trigger a
deep correction to $25."
Spot palladium held below a nine-year high of
$793.5, trading at $787.
Gold prices were still well supported, after breaking
above the key $1,400 threshold earlier this week, helped by
strong physical demand in Asia.
Spot gold reached $1,413.75, just below a
three-week high of $1,413.95 reached on Wednesday, before
inching down to $1,412.30 an ounce.
U.S. gold futures was nearly flat at $1,413.2.
In the second-last trading day of the year, investors will
keep their eye on the weekly initial jobless claims data from
the United States, to gauge the health of the world's largest
economy.
"If the initial claims data comes positive, it could
prompt some profit-taking in gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an
analyst at Phillip Futures.
Premium on gold bars in Hong Kong remained at about $1
above London prices, dealers said.
"But you can only find one or two tonnes here and there,
not large quantities. Both India and China are still very good
buyers," said the Hong Kong-based dealer.
Precious metals prices at 0304 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1412.30 1.31 +0.09 28.89
Spot Silver 30.60 0.05 +0.16 81.82
Spot Platinum 1760.50 4.01 +0.23 20.01
Spot Palladium 787.00 -3.47 -0.44 94.08
TOCOM Gold 3713.00 -16.00 -0.43 13.93 23593
TOCOM Platinum 4675.00 -21.00 -0.45 6.71 6987
TOCOM Silver 80.60 0.10 +0.12 55.90 801
TOCOM Palladium 2086.00 -11.00 -0.52 79.06 326
Euro/Dollar 1.3225
Dollar/Yen 81.42
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
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