* Bullion strikes record, silver at 31-year high
* Gold to rise to $1,477-technicals []
(Updates prices, quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Gold struck a record high on
Friday, and silver hit $40 an ounce for the first time since
1980, as a weaker dollar and concerns about inflation sent
investors piling into precious metals.
Silver exchange traded fund holdings jumped to an all-time
high and gold holding rose to their largest since mid-March as a
surge in oil and other commodity prices threatens to bolster
already rising inflation.
Investors are also looking to the prospect of more declines
in the dollar following the European Central Bank's first rate
hike since 2008.
Spot gold rose as high as $1,466.40 an ounce, on
track for a gain of 1 percent this week.
"Corrections from here are likely to be shallow, with fresh
investment demand emerging on all dips. $1,500 an ounce is
around the corner and may be hit in the next few sessions," said
Pradeep Unni, senior analyst at Richcomm Global Services in
Dubai.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings rose to 1,217.209 tonnes by
April 7, their highest since mid-March.
"Maybe there is some dollar-related buying because it's
weakening. People see the ETF increasing a bit, so they want to
buy some gold," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold
Dealers in Hong Kong.
"There's a small amount of physical buying. Jewellers are
covering shorts, but it's a very small amount. Everybody is
looking for a new high, maybe $1,500 or $1,600."
Spot gold is poised to rise to $1,477 per ounce based
on its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis,
according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities
and energy technicals.
Dealers noted selling of gold scrap from Indonesia and
Thailand, but the light volume had little impact on prices,
keeping premiums for gold bars steady in Singapore at between 70
cents to $1 an ounce.
Main buyer India, which is the midst of the busy wedding
season, was on the sidelines after prices surged to a record.
Spot silver , seen as a cheaper alternative to gold,
hit an intraday high of $40 an ounce, and is set to rise 6
percent this week.
IShares Silver Trust said its holdings hit 11,192.80
tonnes by April 7 from 11,162.45 tonnes on April 4.
[]
U.S. gold futures for June hit $1.468 an ounce, a
record high.
The euro showed resilience and touched a 15-month high
against the dollar on Friday, bouncing back after dipping the
previous day in a sell-the-fact type of reaction to a
widely-expected rate rise by the European Central Bank.
The ECB raised interest rates for the first time since the
2008 financial crisis on Thursday and signalled it was ready to
tighten policy further if needed to check rising prices.
[]
U.S. and Brent crude futures climbed to their highest in
2-1/2 years as supply worries stemming from attacks on Libyan
oil fields and unrest in the Middle East offset demand concerns
spurred by a major aftershock in Japan.
Japan's Nikkei advanced nearly 1.5 percent on Friday, with
active short-covering by players including commodity trading
advisers detected, after no further damage was reported at the
crippled nuclear plant in northeast Japan following last night's
aftershock.
"I would say the quake has little impact, but we do see
selling from the physical market which cuts the premium," said a
dealer in Tokyo, referring to sales of gold bars as bullion
prices rose. []
Gold bars were offered at a discount of 25 cents to spot
London prices, having been quoted on par earlier this week.
Precious metals prices 0541 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1465.76 8.31 +0.57 3.26
Spot Silver 39.96 0.45 +1.14 29.49
Spot Platinum 1792.99 11.89 +0.67 1.44
Spot Palladium 777.75 2.72 +0.35 -2.72
TOCOM Gold 4021.00 27.00 +0.68 7.83 60130
TOCOM Platinum 4937.00 45.00 +0.92 5.13 13719
TOCOM Silver 109.40 1.80 +1.67 35.06 1479
TOCOM Palladium 2133.00 7.00 +0.33 1.72 353
Euro/Dollar 1.4386
Dollar/Yen 85.09
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
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