* Palladium hits nine-year peak, silver around 30-year highs
* Precious complex cuts gains as dollar picks up
* Coming up: U.S. ISM New York index; Friday, 1330 GMT
(Releads, refreshes prices)
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Thursday, under
pressure from a rise in the dollar against the yen after U.S.
data offered some reassurance on the economic outlook, though
bullion was still just 1.5 percent below record highs.
Palladium and silver, both of which hit multi-year highs
earlier in the day, surrendered some gains after the pick-up in
the U.S. currency prompted some investors to close their
positions.
A measure of business activity in the auto-intensive U.S.
Midwest outstripped expectations in December, while a housing
market report showed pending home sales rose faster than
expected last month and a separate release showed jobless claims
hitting their lowest in two years. []
Gold <XAU=> eased by 0.5 percent to $1,403.76 an ounce by
1639 GMT, yet remained on track to secure its tenth consecutive
yearly gain. That compares with a record high of $1,430.95 on
Dec. 7.
Spot silver <XAG=> eased slightly on the day to $30.41,
around 30-year highs after having risen by as much as 1 percent
earlier to a session peak at $30.88. The gold/silver ratio,
which denotes each metal's relative performance, reached a
four-year low.
"These last few days it seems as if silver has been the main
driver and gold is just trotting along with a lack of sellers,"
said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.
"Once something has a firm trend established, it's easy to
push ... There has to be a story behind it to justify it;
otherwise you would have seen profit-taking setting in a while
back," he added.
Silver is at its highest since early 1980 and on course for
an 83 percent gain this year, its strongest performance in at
least 27 years.
SILVER LINING
Investors have flocked into silver this year as a cheaper
safe-haven alternative to gold, which hit a record high of
$1,430.95 an ounce in early December.
Holdings of silver in the iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, the
world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical silver,
have risen to 10,903.34 tonnes, from 9,492.97 tonnes at the end
of last year, while open interest in U.S. silver futures has
risen by 8,801 contracts, or 44.0 million ounces.
Holdings of gold in the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, the world's
largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical bullion, have
risen 15 percent this year to 1,284.062 tonnes, and a near 20
percent rise in open interest in U.S. gold futures also reflects
some of this investor desire to hold gold. [] <0#CFTC>
The gold price has risen by nearly 30 percent in 2010, its
strongest yearly performance since a 31 percent rise in 2007
when the global financial crisis began to manifest itself.
"Overall, I don't think today or tomorrow we are going to
have any kind of correction as such," said Afshin Nabavi, MKS
Finance head of trading.
"I'm quite friendly towards it and probably feel that
tomorrow night we are going to end the year with some fireworks
as well," referring to the potential for gains in other metals.
The euro zone debt crisis, which unfolded in April this year
and culminated in multi-billion euro international bailouts for
both Greece and Ireland, has been one of the prime drivers of
investment demand for gold.
Palladium was set for a second year of gains, having almost
doubled to near $800 an ounce over the course of 2010 and is
this year's top performing commodity.
Analysts widely expect a surge in demand for palladium next
year, mainly from China, which boasts the world's largest auto
market that is dominated by gasoline-powered vehicles, which use
palladium in their catalytic converters.
The ratio of platinum to palladium has fallen to its lowest
in about eight years this year, mirroring palladium's
outperformance over platinum, which relies heavily on the
flagging European car market as a source of industrial demand.
Spot palladium <XPD=> rose to a nine-year high of $795.00
before trading back at $791.72, up 0.2 percent on the day, while
platinum <XPT=> rose to a session high of $1,767.5, its highest
since Nov 11, before falling 0.5 percent to $1,748.24.
(Additional reporting by Rujun Shen in Singapore, editing by
Jane Baird)
