* Spot gold hits record at $1,532.91, U.S. gold $1,534
* iShares Silver Trust holdings fall by 1.8 percent
* Coming up: U.S. Q1 GDP preliminary; 1230 GMT
(Writes through; adds details; updates prices)
SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - Gold prices hit record highs
on Thursday and U.S. silver futures jumped, buoyed by the dollar
that languished around its 3-year low as the United States is
seen to retain its accommodative monetary policy.
Spot gold ascended to an lifetime high of $1,532.91
an ounce, breaking record for the second straight session. It
was trading at $1,529.31 by 0551 GMT, up 0.2 percent.
U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> also hit an all-time high at
$1,534 an ounce, and trimmed gains to $1,530.20.
The dollar index , a measure of greenback's strength
against a basket of currencies, dipped a three-year low after
the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled no rush to reverse low
interest rates in order to support economic recovery.
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The weakening dollar has been a main driver behind gold's
record-setting rally in recent weeks, alongside concerns over
the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and North Africa region,
fiscal stability in euro zone and rising global inflation.
"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."
Physical gold buying was seen active in Asia, but scrap
selling was limited, as market participants remained bullish
even after gold struck record highs in nine out of past ten
sessions, dealers said.
"Gold is still bullish, with the 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."
A more than 50-percent rally in silver prices, compared with
a 8 percent rise in gold this year, has attracted swarms of
investors, who expect silver's dual nature as both industrial
and precious metals to help retain its glory.
Spot silver rose by 0.7 percent to $48.07 an ounce,
extending a 6-percent rally in the previous session. It hit a
31-year high of $49.31 on Monday.
U.S. silver futures <SIcv1> jumped as much as 6 percent to
$48.75 in early trade, following a climb as much as 7 percent on
Wednesday. It was trading at $48.04.
As silver prices advanced, holdings in the iShares Silver
Trust , the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded
fund, dipped 1.8 percent to 11,053.20 by April 27 from the
previous session.
Gold and silver may both see more upside, but the risk of a
pullback in silver is larger than that in gold due to the more
speculative nature of the silver market, traders said.
Precious metals prices 0551 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1529.31 2.91 +0.19 7.74
Spot Silver 48.07 0.31 +0.65 55.77
Spot Platinum 1815.00 -4.45 -0.24 2.69
Spot Palladium 765.72 2.27 +0.30 -4.23
TOCOM Gold 4029.00 52.00 +1.31 8.05 78761
TOCOM Platinum 4813.00 6.00 +0.12 2.49 14607
TOCOM Silver 126.20 5.80 +4.82 55.80 5085
TOCOM Palladium 2022.00 32.00 +1.61 -3.58 833
COMEX GOLD JUN1 1530.20 13.10 +0.86 7.65 17435
COMEX SILVER MAY1 48.04 2.08 +4.52 55.25 6359
Euro/Dollar 1.4840
Dollar/Yen 81.72
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
