* Gold to fall to $1,382/oz-technicals []
* Coming up: U.S. Mortgage index Weekly; 1200 GMT
(Updates prices, adds activity in physical market)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Gold slipped below a lifetime
high on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar firmed, while silver
regained strength after holdings in the world's largest
silver-backed exchange-traded fund hit another record.
U.S. government bond yields rose, lifting the dollar
and weighing on commodities after President Obama
proposed a deal on tax cuts and unemployment payments that
could boost economic growth in the short term but raise debt
levels longer term.
Gold fell $8.51 to $1,392.35 an ounce by 0645 GMT.
Trading was volatile on Tuesday, when gold dropped after
hitting a lifetime high around $1,430 an ounce on technical
selling.
But with the debt crisis in Europe far from over and
tensions in the Korean peninsula still brewing, gold could try
new highs again, which could lift other precious metals,
dealers said.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries said on Wednesday
they would hold more joint exercises off the tense peninsula
amid heightened tensions following North Korea's deadly attack
on a South Korean island last month. []
[]
"It doesn't look like it's bearish. We've just got a bit
of profit taking following the dollar. I suspect it will
resume its upward movement," said Darren Heathcote, head of
trading at Investec Australia.
"Silver is tracking gold's movements and is a beneficiary
of any positive sentiment for gold."
Silver hardly changed after rising to a 30-year
high at $30.68 an ounce on Tuesday before falling sharply to
hit a low around $28 an ounce.
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund,
iShares Silver Trust , said its holdings hit another
record at 10,941.34 tonnes by Dec. 7 from 10,816.69 tonnes on
Dec 6. For details of the ETF's silver holdings, click on:
http://link.reuters.com/wux96h
U.S. gold futures for February fell more than 1
percent to below $1,400 an ounce.
Jewellers and investors flocked to the physical market on
Wednesday after bullion prices slipped from an all-time high
because of a firmer U.S. dollar, keeping premiums steady in
Singapore and Hong Kong.
Spot gold is developing a bearish trend towards the wave
"b" bottom at $1,350.27 per ounce over the next few trading
sessions, and an immediate target will be $1,382, according to
Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy
technicals.
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20100812090926.jpg
"I've some physical interest here and there but it's not
that much," said a dealer in Singapore, who trades gold bars.
"People don't seem to know how to react to the price
movements."
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust , said its holdings eased to 1,297.726 tonnes
by Dec 7 from 1,298.030 tonnes on Dec 3.
Japan's Nikkei average closed up 0.9 percent on Wednesday
after briefly hitting its highest level in almost seven
months, as the dollar's rise against the yen encouraged buying
after Tokyo stocks had fallen during the previous two
sessions.
Precious metals prices at 0645 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1392.35 -8.51 -0.61 27.07
Spot Silver 28.79 0.13 +0.45 71.06
Spot Platinum 1676.50 -12.00 -0.71 14.28
Spot Palladium 724.80 -5.17 -0.71 78.74
TOCOM Gold 3768.00 -16.00 -0.42 15.62 82932
TOCOM Platinum 4596.00 -15.00 -0.33 4.91 13941
TOCOM Silver 78.50 -1.60 -2.00 51.84 3976
TOCOM Palladium 1980.00 -47.00 -2.32 69.96 2339
Euro/Dollar 1.3214
Dollar/Yen 83.98
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Reuters Terminal users can see related news and prices by
double clicking on the codes in brackets:
- All precious metals headlines
- Precious metals market reports
- Daily fixing headlines
- Technical analysis
- Indian gold reports
- European gold prices <0#PREC>
- London interbank gold forward rates <0#GOFO=>
- London silver forwards
- Gold lease rates <0#LGLR=>
- London Bullion Market Association
- New York Comex gold <0#GC:> and silver <0#SI:>
- New York platinum <0#PL:> and palladium <0#PA:>
- Asian gold prices <0#PREC>
- Australian precious metals prices <0#AUPREC=>
- Shanghai Gold Exchange prices
- Hong Kong gold exchange prices
- Hong Kong bullion prices
- Indian bullion prices <0#PREC-IN>
- Japanese producer prices
For Related News and other topics, double click on one of these
codes:
SPEED GUIDES
