* Gold hits another record, jewellers cash in
* For a technical outlook on gold, click on []
* Coming Up: Weekly U.S. Mortgage Market Index; 1100 GMT
(Updates prices, adds graphics)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold struck another record
high above $1,230 an ounce on Wednesday on safe haven buying as
investors bet the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond
Greece.
Jewellers cashed in on the rally and dealers noted a pick
up sales of scrap in Asia, which could curb further gains. But
any correction could be limited as a $1-trillion European
rescue package had done little to ease fears of euro zone debt
contagion.
"I think sentiment is slightly bullish from here. We don't
really know where the top is," said Ronald Leung, director of
Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "We may be talking about
$1,250."
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a bid high of $1,234.70 an ounce
before slipping to $1,233.10 by 0516 GMT, still up $1.05 from
New York's notional close on Tuesday, when buying from
investors helped it surpass December's record.
Gold priced in euro <XAUEUR=R> hit another record high on
Wednesday.
For a graphic showing the technical outlook for gold, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101205115706.jpg
Some dealers said gains in silver <XAG=> were partly
responsible for gold's rally. The white metal jumped to a
five-month high on Tuesday on buying by funds attracted by the
metal's cheap prices compared to gold, platinum and palladium.
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its holdings rose to 9,115.15
tonnes as of May 11, up 27.43 tonnes from 9,087.72 tonnes in
the previous business day. []
"We've seen the worst and the market now needs a few days
to consolidate. We'll probably wait again for leads from the
stock markets today," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at
Investec Australia in Sydney.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings were unchanged at record
high of 1,192.150 tonnes as of May 11.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> added $13.7 an
ounce to $1,233.6 an ounce.
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For a graphic showing gold's moving in sync with the U.S.
dollar, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/LP__20101205110500.jpg
For a graphic showing cash gold prices versus SPDR
holdings, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/CMD_GLDPSD0510.gif
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Japan's Nikkei average edged up 0.5 percent on Wednesday,
defying declines in New York but there were lingering fears the
bailout package for Europe won't solve the region's deep-seated
problems. [] []
The euro dropped on persistent worries about the euro
zone's ability to to deliver the drastic spending cuts and tax
increases needed to tackle its debt crisis, while sterling held
gains after a new UK coalition government was formed.
Precious metals prices at 0516 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1233.10 1.05 +0.09 12.54
Spot Silver 19.27 -0.01 -0.05 14.50
Spot Platinum 1688.50 -13.50 -0.79 15.10
Spot Palladium 527.50 -4.50 -0.85 30.09
TOCOM Gold 3678.00 87.00 +2.42 12.86
66910
TOCOM Platinum 5058.00 58.00 +1.16 15.45
16613
TOCOM Silver 57.70 2.40 +4.34 11.61
1179
TOCOM Palladium 1565.00 28.00 +1.82 34.33
481
Euro/Dollar 1.2621
Dollar/Yen 92.51
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by ed Lane)
