* Gold strikes record, silver at 30-year peak
* Gold to retrace to $1,385 an ounce []
* Coming Up: U.S. Employment index Oct 1400 GMT
(Updates prices, adds fresh comments)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Gold hit a fresh record above
$1,398 an ounce on Monday before a rebound in the dollar caused
prices to retrace, though short-term sentiment remains upbeat.
A move by the U.S. Fed last week announcing plans to buy
$600 billion in Treasurys and expected comments on currency
imbalances from a leadership summit this week of the group of
20 nations meeting in Seoul, South Korea, have highlighted
gold's appeal as a safe haven.
Writing in the Financial Times, World Bank president Robert
Zoellick said leading economies should consider readopting a
modified global gold standard to guide currency movements.
[]
An analyst suggested the Zoellick proposal showed how
closely investors across asset classes are looking at gold.
"This is a longer-term development that the markets could
look towards to as a possibility but it would really take a lot
of work and time before it could actually materialise," said
Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
Gold <XAU=> fell $3.96 an ounce to $1,390.54 by 0601 GMT,
having risen as high as $1,398.35. Silver <XAG=> tracked gold
higher to hit a fresh 30-year peak at $26.98 an ounce.
Outside of the policy arena, Ong suggested another key
trigger would be growth in ETF stocks to match price gains.
"What I would like to see would be the holdings in the ETF
side. I would like to see it increase to really show that this
rally in gold prices is sustainable," said Ong.
"I think for today, we may actually see gold hit above
$1,400 on an intraday basis. This is the level that I think a
lot investors should be watching to see if some shorter-term
players may choose to take profits."
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P> said its holdings slipped to 1,291.766
tonnes by November 5 from 1,292.189 on November 2. The holdings
hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> fell $8.4 an
ounce to $1,389.3 an ounce.
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For a factbox on how to invest in gold and key price
drivers, click []
For gold's milestones on the road to record high, click
[]
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100811091738.jpg
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Higher gold prices attracted selling in Southeast Asia, but
premiums for gold bars were steady in Singapore as bargain
hunters resurfaced at lower levels. <GOLD/ASIA1>
In main consumer India, gold futures <MAUc1> hit a record
of 20,101 rupees per 10 grams on Monday because of a weaker
rupee and an early rise in international prices. But physical
trading, slowed to a trickle after the Diwali Hindu festival of
light.
"Market has cooled-off a bit after heavy last week sales,
there are queries, but nothing is materialising as prices are
above 20,000 rupees again," said Pinakin Vyas, assistant
vice-president with IndusInd Bank.
"The market would take time to digest these levels. Orders
are way below the current levels at $1,320-$1,350. Even scrap
is low at the moment."
The dollar rose sharply on Monday as unwinding of dollar
short positions that began with solid U.S. jobs data
snowballed, pushing down the euro to its lowest level since the
Fed embarked on fresh easing last week.
But investors expect the dollar to stay on a weaker trend on
global economy concerns. [] []
The Nikkei average rose more than 1 percent to a
three-month high on Monday, adding to gains made last week as
risk money shifts towards global equities on improving
prospects for the U.S. economy. []
Precious metals prices at 0601 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1390.54 -3.96 -0.28 26.91
Spot Silver 26.79 0.17 +0.64 59.18
Spot Platinum 1756.24 -9.26 -0.52 19.72
Spot Palladium 680.22 -2.31 -0.34 67.75
TOCOM Gold 3641.00 27.00 +0.75 11.72
80214
TOCOM Platinum 4636.00 -12.00 -0.26 5.82
19641
TOCOM Silver 70.20 1.30 +1.89 35.78
2779
TOCOM Palladium 1780.00 10.00 +0.56 52.79
1376
Euro/Dollar 1.3953
Dollar/Yen 81.21
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Siddesh Mayanker in MUMBAI; Editing
by Ed Lane)
(lewa.pardomuan@thomson reuters.com; +65 6870 3834; Reuters
Messaging: lewa.pardomuan.reuters.com@reuters.net))
