* Gold hits 2-week high, silver at 30-yr peak above $25/oz
* Gold expected to rise to $1,373 an ounce []
* Coming Up: U.S. personal income/spending for Sept; 1230
GMT
(Updates prices, adds details)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Gold jumped to a two-week high
on Monday as investors expected more declines in the dollar
ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting to shore up
the economy, while silver and palladium hit multi-year peaks.
Chart-based buying also picked up after bullion surpassed a
key resistance of $1,350 an ounce on Friday, lifting silver
<XAG=> to its highest since early 1980 and palladium <XPD=> to
a 9-year high. Gold hit a record of around $1,387 in
mid-October.
The Fed is likely to announce new bond purchases to push
borrowing costs lower and energise a sluggish recovery when its
two-day meeting ends on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters
expect the Fed to buy between $80 billion and $100 billion a
month. []
Gold <XAU=> added $6.95 to $1,364.00 an ounce by 0615 GMT,
having hit an intraday high of $1,365.49. U.S. gold futures
<GCZ0> rose $6.6 an ounce to $1,364.2 an ounce.
For a 24-hour technical outlook on gold, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100111093924.jpg
"Today, I am looking at some gains in gold in
follow-through strength. Particularly, if gold hits higher, I
think other precious metals like silver and palladium are
likely to be boosted as well," said Ong Yi Ling, investment
analyst at Phillip Futures.
"On palladium, there are also strong fundamentals," said
Ong, referring to a recent proposal to have U.S. heavy trucks
adhere to certain carbon emission standards.
The Obama administration has proposed that heavy trucks
reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2018 as part of a
first-ever fuel efficiency standard for commercial vehicles.
[]
Palladium and its sister metal platinum are used in
autocatalysts to clean exhaust fumes.
Asian shares rallied on Monday, while the dollar struggled
to hold ground on speculation the Fed could further ease policy
when it meets this week by buying more U.S. government bonds.
[] []
The dollar is broadly under pressure after U.S. Treasury
yields dropped on Friday, with the two-year yields falling near
a record low ahead of the Fed meeting this week. A weaker
dollar boosts gold's appeal as an alternative investment.
South Africa's Harmony Gold Co Ltd <HARJ.J> said it remains
bullish on the gold price and continues to see it in the region
of $1,500 an ounce next year. []
"Sentiment is cautiously bullish before the Fed meeting but
I think people are still talking about the price target of
$1,400," said a bullion dealer in Hong Kong.
"Silver is performing better than gold, but I don't see
much physical buying. We did see some purchases in gold but
there's also a bit of profit taking after it breached $1,360."
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund,
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its holdings fell to 10,141.92
tonnes by Oct 29 from 10,181.46 tonnes on Oct 28. For details
of the ETF's silver holdings, click on:
http://link.reuters.com/wux96h
Oil rose to nearly $82 on Monday, buoyed by expectations
the U.S. Federal Reserve will commit to a new round of monetary
stimulus this week and prompt further weakness in the dollar.
[]
Precious metals prices at 0615 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1364.00 6.95 +0.51 24.49
Spot Silver 25.00 0.36 +1.46 48.54
Spot Platinum 1709.24 10.74 +0.63 16.51
Spot Palladium 647.72 4.72 +0.73 59.73
TOCOM Gold 3535.00 47.00 +1.35 8.47
52789
TOCOM Platinum 4463.00 39.00 +0.88 1.87
17941
TOCOM Silver 64.90 3.00 +4.85 25.53
2645
TOCOM Palladium 1683.00 38.00 +2.31 44.46
1416
Euro/Dollar 1.4006
Dollar/Yen 80.40
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
