* Spot silver hits $30.84; U.S. silver futures $30.89/oz
* Palladium hits nine-year peak, platinum at 1-1/2 month
high
* Spot gold to rise to $1,430-technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. initial claims; 1330 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Spot silver hit a 30-year
peak and palladium a nine-year high on Thursday, buoyed by a
weak dollar and strength in base metals, while gold rose to
its highest in three weeks, supported by good physical demand.
The dollar weakened broadly, as traders took falls in U.S.
bond yields as a cue to sell the greenback.
Spot silver hit a 30-year high of $30.84 an ounce,
before easing to $30.76 by 0719 GMT. U.S. silver futures
hit $30.89 an ounce, and was trading at $30.81.
The strength in base metals, led by copper, helped buoy
silver and platinum group metals, traders said.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
rallied to a record high of $9,550 a tonne, powered by supply
worries and buying by holders of strong Asian currencies.
"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,
according to 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 arched to a nine-year high of
$793.75, and eased slightly to $793.22, staging a 96 percent
surge on the year. Spot platinum rose to $1,767.5, its
highest since Nov 11.
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 a three-week high of $1,414.30,
before inching down to $1,413.30 an ounce.
U.S. gold futures were nearly flat at $1,414.1.
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 0719 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1413.30 2.31 +0.16 28.99
Spot Silver 30.76 0.21 +0.69 82.77
Spot Platinum 1764.24 7.75 +0.44 20.26
Spot Palladium 793.22 2.75 +0.35 95.62
TOCOM Gold 3715.00 -14.00 -0.38 13.99 32380
TOCOM Platinum 4689.00 -7.00 -0.15 7.03 11873
TOCOM Silver 81.20 0.70 +0.87 57.06 1504
TOCOM Palladium 2097.00 0.00 +0.00 80.00 462
Euro/Dollar 1.3236
Dollar/Yen 81.47
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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