RTRS: Silver hits 30-year peak on weak dollar, strong metals
* Silver rises to $30.72/oz; U.S. silver futures $30.79
* Spot gold to rise to $1,430-technicals [ID:nL3E6NU012]
* Coming up: U.S. initial claims; 1330 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Spot silver hit a 30-year
peak on Thursday, buoyed by a weak dollar and strength in base
metals, while gold held steady below a three-week high hit in
the previous session supported by good physical demand.
The dollar weakened broadly, as traders took falls in U.S.
bond yields as a cue to sell the greenback.
Spot silver hit a 30-year high of $30.72 an ounce,
before easing slightly to $30.68 by 0340 GMT. U.S. silver
futures hit $30.79 an ounce, and was trading at $30.71.
The strength in base metals, led by copper, helped buoy
silver and platinum group metals, traders said.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
rallied to a record high of $9,469 a tonne.
"Copper prices have been very firm, supporting silver as
well as palladium," said a Hong Kong-based dealer, adding that
short-covering in silver also helped push prices higher.
He expected silver to trade in the range of $30 to $35 in
2011, with $40 as a potential target.
"But it will depend on performance of gold and other
metals."
Technical analysis showed that spot silver might be due
for a deep correction as the rise was seen exhausted,
according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
"A rising wedge is contracting to a point on the daily
chart, with a peak likely to form around $32 per ounce, and
the RSI indicator shows multiple bearish divergence, which
signals a bearish reversal soon," said Wang.
"A break below a pivotal support at $29 would trigger a
deep correction to $25."
Spot palladium held below a nine-year high of
$793.50, trading at $788.49.
Gold prices were still well supported, after breaking
above the key $1,400 threshold earlier this week, helped by
strong physical demand in Asia.
Spot gold reached $1,413.75, just below a
three-week high of $1,413.95 reached on Wednesday, before
inching down to $1,412.74 an ounce.
U.S. gold futures were nearly flat at $1,413.3.
In the second-last trading day of the year, investors will
keep their eye on the weekly initial jobless claims data from
the United States, to gauge the health of the world's largest
economy.
"If the initial claims data comes positive, it could
prompt some profit-taking in gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an
analyst at Phillip Futures.
Premium on gold bars in Hong Kong remained at about $1
above London prices, dealers said.
"But you can only find one or two tonnes here and there,
not large quantities. Both India and China are still very good
buyers," said the Hong Kong-based dealer.
