* Spot gold matches previous day's record
* iShares Silver Trust holdings fall 1.8 percent
* Coming up: U.S. Q1 GDP preliminary; 1230 GMT
(Adds details, comment; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. silver futures leapt as
much as 6 percent and gold futures reached a record high on
Thursday, underpinned by a weakened dollar after the U.S.
Federal Reserve signalled no rush to reverse its accommodative
monetary policy.
The dollar index , a measure of the greenback's
strength against a basket of currencies, declined to a
three-year low following Fed chief Ben Bernanke's remarks that
the central bank would not scale back its support for the
economic recovery any time soon. []
"Gold has followed the misfortunes of the dollar," said
Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.
"It looks very difficult to find a reason to sell gold right
now, and technically we are targeting $1,550. Bulls are very
much in control of this market at the moment."
U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> rose to a record high of $1,530.80
an ounce, before easing slightly to $1,528.10 by 0327 GMT, up
0.7 percent.
Spot gold matched the record high of $1,529.90 hit in
the previous session. It had since trimmed gains to $1,527.29 an
ounce, little changed from the previous close.
"Gold is still bullish, with the QE2 (second round of
quantitative easing) to be completed on schedule and interest
rates to stay low until at least end of the year," said a Hong
Kong-based dealer.
"Unless we see the job market turn around quickly, interest
rates will stay low for a long time."
On the data radar on Thursday is U.S. gross domestic
product. The forecast is that growth slowed to a 2 percent
annual rate or even less, according to a Reuters survey, after a
3.1 percent fourth quarter pace. []
U.S. silver <SIcv1> jumped as much as 6 percent to $48.75 an
ounce earlier in the day, then softened to $48.55.
Spot silver rose by 1.6 percent to $48.52, extending
gains made in the previous session. It hit a 31-year high of
$49.31 on Monday.
Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust , the world's
largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, extended losses from
the previous session, down 1.8 percent to 11,053.20 tonnes.
Spot silver has gained 57 percent so far this year, compared
to gold's 8 percent ascent.
The surging demand for physical silver, especially in Asian
countries, has helped support its recent rally.
[][]
Precious metals prices 0327 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1527.29 0.89 +0.06 7.60
Spot Silver 48.52 0.76 +1.59 57.23
Spot Platinum 1819.99 0.54 +0.03 2.97
Spot Palladium 765.22 1.77 +0.23 -4.29
TOCOM Gold 4022.00 45.00 +1.13 7.86 66970
TOCOM Platinum 4820.00 13.00 +0.27 2.64 12741
TOCOM Silver 127.20 6.80 +5.65 57.04 4339
TOCOM Palladium 2022.00 32.00 +1.61 -3.58 785
COMEX GOLD JUN1 1528.10 11.00 +0.73 7.51 10461
COMEX SILVER MAY1 48.55 2.59 +5.63 56.90 4859
Euro/Dollar 1.4865
Dollar/Yen 81.71
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
