* Gold strikes record, China inflation at 32-mth high
* Coming Up: U.S. Consumer prices March; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds launch of SMX gold futures)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Gold jumped to another
record high on Friday after the dollar fell to its lowest since
late 2009 against a basket of major currencies, taking silver to
a 31-year high, while inflation pressures in China also helped
lift bullion's appeal.
China's turbo-charged growth eased just a touch in the first
quarter, while its inflation jumped to a 32-month high, putting
pressure on the government to do more to rein in prices and keep
the economy on an even keel. []
Spot gold was steady at $1,473.16 ounce by 0447 GMT,
having hit a record high of $1,479.01 an ounce.
Gold is still far below its all-time inflation-adjusted
high, estimated at almost $2,500 an ounce set in 1980 as a
result of heightened geopolitical pressure and hyper inflation.
"We see gold peaking at $1,500 an ounce. We think there
could be some more upside in gold in the short term, especially
in this environment of high inflation and rising oil prices,"
said" Natalie Robertson, commodities strategist at ANZ.
"There is a lot more upside," said Robertson, adding that
the peak of $1,500 would be reached by the end of 2011.
Dealers said worries about inflation had spurred steady
physical demand from China, where the government has vowed to
use all tools at its disposal, including bank reserve
requirements, interest rates and the yuan's exchange rate, to
wrestle inflation under control. []
Gold's rise to record high only attracted light selling
from Thailand and Indonesia, suggesting that investors remained
bullish on the outlook. Premiums for gold bars were steady at
between 70 cents and $1 an ounce in Singapore.
"Generally, higher CPI (consumer prices) could still be a
boost for gold. Going forward, we will be looking at inflation
figures from the United States, and if we see an upside
surprise, gold can even go higher," said a dealer in Singapore.
"If you look at recent price action when China announces
interest rate hikes, it hasn't affected commodities that much.
Also, because of the fact that gold prices are already so
expensive, investors are look at silver as a store of value."
Spot silver rose as high as $42.41 an ounce, its
strongest since 1980, with physical dealers in Singapore also
reporting buying from speculators.
IShares Silver Trust said its holdings edged up to
10,974.26 tonnes by April 14 from 10,969.71 tonnes on April 13.
The holdings hit a record of 11,242.89 tonnes hit on April 8.
The dollar dropped to its lowest in more than a year, under
pressure from expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will not cut
short its $600 billion debt-buying programme despite the recent
surge in oil prices. []
U.S. Consumer price inflation numbers due at 1230 GMT will
be closely watched for signs inflation may be rising faster than
the Fed may expect.
U.S. gold futures for June rose as high as $1,480.5
an ounce, a lifetime high.
Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) started trading
cash-settled gold futures on Friday, with the contract for June
delivery opening at $1,475 an ounce on low volumes.
[]
"They need sufficient liquidity before people start looking
at the contracts," said the Singapore-based dealer.
"It's always difficult to get people to adopt a new
contract. You'd always stick to traditional, old benchmark, such
as COMEX gold."
Brent crude held steady above $122 a barrel on Friday after
China's economic growth beat forecasts despite government
efforts to cool expansion and put the brakes on inflation.
Precious metals prices 0447 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1473.16 0.26 +0.02 3.78
Spot Silver 42.06 -0.02 -0.05 36.29
Spot Platinum 1785.24 -1.25 -0.07 1.00
Spot Palladium 771.00 10.37 +1.36 -3.56
TOCOM Gold 3960.00 20.00 +0.51 6.19 59131
TOCOM Platinum 4819.00 -2.00 -0.04 2.62 11324
TOCOM Silver 112.70 1.80 +1.62 39.14 2102
TOCOM Palladium 2078.00 3.00 +0.14 -0.91 245
Euro/Dollar 1.4466
Dollar/Yen 83.39
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Lane)
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