* Spot gold hits all-time high at $1,513.70/oz, US gold
$1,514.50
* US silver rises 4 pct to 31-year high of $47.90
* Coming up: U.S. NAHB housing market index; 1400 GMT
(Adds prices, details; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Spot gold hit a lifetime
high on Monday, extending a record-breaking rally to its seventh
consecutive session, buoyed by a weak dollar that languished
around its three-year low amid increasing tension in the Middle
East and North Africa.
Silver, dubbed as the poor man's gold, surged nearly 4
percent on the U.S. futures market to a 31-year high of $47.90.
"It's the dollar play," said a dealer based in Singapore.
"People are now looking at $1,515 to $1,520 for gold, so there
is more room for prices to go even higher."
Spot gold hit a record high of $1,513.70 an ounce,
and had eased to $1,511.85 by 0325 GMT.
U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> also hit an all-time high, at
$1,514.50, and was trading at $1,512.50.
The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's
strength against a basket of currencies, rebounded slightly from
a three-year low, as investors await a policy signals from a
U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the week.
Fed chief Ben Bernanke is set to hold a news briefing on
Wednesday after the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee
meeting, which is expected to affirm a plan to complete the $600
billion bond purchase programme. [] []
"Investors expect the Fed to continue the low rates, which
means the dollar could be even weaker, unless there were
game-changing comments from Bernanke," said Ong Yi Ling, an
analyst at Philip Futures.
The escalated violence in Syria and Yemen over the weekend
also helped lift gold, seen as a safe haven during time of
turmoil. []
SILVER SHINES, LEADING COMMODITIES
U.S. silver futures <SIcv1> rose to a 31-year high of $47.87
an ounce, and eased to $47.83.
Spot silver hit $47.88, highest since 1980 when
silver rose to a record high near $50 as the billionaire Texan
Hunt brothers cornered the market.
Spot silver has climbed a remarkable 55 percent so far this
year, leading the commodities complex and outperforming the
10-percent gain in the 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index
by a large margin.
The Relative Strength Index on spot silver both rose above
90, its highest level since 1987, suggesting the market has been
heavily overbought.
Yet buying interest in silver still runs strong, as the
higher leverage in silver attracts speculators.
Big speculators including hedge funds further extended their
long position in COMEX gold futures as prices raced to new
record highs and held onto their silver positions in the week to
April 19, and regulator data showed.[]
Precious metals prices 0325 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1511.85 8.30 +0.55 6.51
Spot Silver 47.80 1.13 +2.42 54.89
Spot Platinum 1826.24 15.44 +0.85 3.32
Spot Palladium 769.47 3.99 +0.52 -3.76
TOCOM Gold 4009.00 27.00 +0.68 7.51 18991
TOCOM Platinum 4874.00 46.00 +0.95 3.79 5869
TOCOM Silver 126.50 3.60 +2.93 56.17 2650
TOCOM Palladium 2050.00 21.00 +1.03 -2.24 100
COMEX GOLD JUN1 1512.50 8.70 +0.58 6.41 9774
COMEX SILVER MAY1 47.83 1.77 +3.83 54.57 18067
Euro/Dollar 1.4543
Dollar/Yen 82.26
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)
