* Gold still eyes $1,549/oz -technicals []
* Coming Up: U.S. personal income mm March; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Silver and gold were within sight of
historic highs on Friday and could resume an uptrend as the U.S. dollar held
near three-year lows against a basket of currencies on hopes U.S. monetary
policy would stay ultra-loose, keeping inflationary price pressures high.
A fresh batch of U.S. economic data in the form of rising claims for jobless
benefits failed to rescue the dollar, which had dropped to its weakest level
since July 2008 against other currencies before recovering slightly.
Silver barely moved, standing at 48.35 an ounce by 0625 GMT, after
having rallied to a record at $49.51 an ounce on Thursday. Gold eased 75
cents to $1,534.20 an ounce after hitting a lifetime high around $1,538 an ounce
in the previous session.
"If the dollar continues to weaken, then it's only likely to boost gold as
well as silver as the inverse relationship between the two assets persists. I
would say that for gold I am still looking for it to hit $1,600 this year," said
Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"In the long term, I think, if we see silver prices at such a high level,
then it could hurt the industrial demand."
But dealers said strong investment demand for silver would keep the metal at
record levels, while a lack of scrap sales in the physical market suggested that
investors expected more gains. Year to date, silver was up almost 60 percent,
sharply above gold's 8 percent gain.
A bullish target at $1,549 per ounce is still intact for spot gold ,
based on its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, according to Wan
Tao, who is a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
"There's some selling but I would say it's very light," said a dealer in
Singapore, who trades gold and silver. "It had been a very busy week, and I am
glad today is Friday. It's all quiet, finally."
The CME Group Inc , parent of the Chicago Board of Trade, said on
Thursday it would raise maintenance margins for COMEX 5000 Silver <0#SI:>
futures by 13.2 percent, making it more expensive for silver speculators to
trade in. []
Soaring prices hurt the bottom line of certain manufacturers, including
photography company Eastman Kodak , which said on Thursday a hike in raw
material costs, particularly silver, led to a decrease in its film business
revenue. []
Trading was subdued in Asia, with Japanese financial markets shut for a
public holiday. UK markets will be closed for the royal wedding. Premiums for
gold bars were steady in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The dollar index , which tracks the currency's performance against a
basket of major currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 73.030, having plumbed a
three-year low of 72.871 on Thursday. It is down around 1.4 percent so far this
week, on track for its biggest weekly drop since a 2.5 percent fall in the week
to Jan. 16.
Sentiment for the dollar took a hit this week after the Federal Reserve said
it was in no hurry to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy, a move that gave
investors the green light to keep using the dollar as a funding currency to buy
higher-yielding assets.
"It all depends on the U.S. dollar, but I would say we only see a small
amount of selling in the physical market," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
In the energy market, crude fell on Friday, after settling at a 31-month
high in the previous session, on concerns that slowing growth in top consumer
United States may pare demand, but a weaker dollar and unrest in the Middle East
helped stem a slide in prices.
Precious metals prices 0625 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1534.20 -0.75 -0.05 8.08
Spot Silver 48.35 -0.06 -0.12 56.68
Spot Platinum 1841.74 6.64 +0.36 4.20
Spot Palladium 782.47 11.24 +1.46 -2.13
Euro/Dollar 1.4832
Dollar/Yen 81.51
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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