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SILVER prices surged to a new record and gold also hit it's highest-ever price on continued weakness in the US dollar and uncertainty ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Both metals pared their gains, however, as participants sought to cash in on the record high prices.

The most actively traded Comex silver contract, for May delivery, rose $US1.09, or 2.4 per cent, to settle at a record $US47.149 a troy ounce. Front-month April silver gained $US1.089, or 2.4 per cent, to end at $US47.151, shy of its 1980 record settlement of $US48.700 around the time the Hunt brothers from Texas attempted to corner the silver market.

The metal ran into resistance just under the psychological barrier of $US50 an ounce as participants began booking profits. Silver had gained 17 per cent over the past week through Monday's intraday high of $US49.820.


Traders were thinking, "'I'd better take my money,'" said Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with FuturePath Trading. "The way we've come off, there's a possibility we've seen a high for the near term."

Silver was still far outpacing gold's gains as the gray metal continued to benefit from its relative cheapness compared with gold.

The most actively traded June gold contract rose $US5.30, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at a record $US1509.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The thinly traded nearby April contract gained $US5.40, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at $US1508.60.

Both silver and gold have been benefiting from a weaker US dollar. Investors tend to favour gold and silver as hedges against currency volatility and stores of value in times of weakening currencies. The US dollar-denominated metals also tend to rise when the buck falls because that makes them less expensive for foreign buyers, helping demand.

"Concerns about the US dollar have produced a big run into the metals," said Sterling Smith, an analyst with Country Hedging.

Participants will be focused on the Federal Open Market Committee meeting today and tomorrow and the subsequent news conference by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. In his first-ever post-policy-meeting press conference, most expect Mr Bernanke to reiterate the current policy of keeping interest rates low and allowing the Fed's "quantitative easing" program to run out in June.

The greenback has been under pressure recently on investor perception the Fed will maintain low interest rates for some time. Although the buck got some respite yesterday after US housing data showed slight signs of recovery, the ICE Futures US Dollar Index was down 0.04 per cent shortly after gold closed.

The combination of ultra-low interest rates -- which also boost the allure of non interest-bearing gold and silver -- and Federal Reserve purchases of Treasurys to stimulate the economy has caused some to believe the Fed won't be able to sponge up extra liquidity in time to avoid problematic consumer and producer price increases over the longer term.

"Investors continue to flock to the metals when the Fed is on an easy monetary path," said MF Global analyst Tom Pawlicki.

At the same time gold and silver are surging as financial assets, silver is getting an extra boost as economic growth prompts a resurgence in manufacturing and consumer purchases. Silver is more widely used in manufacturing than gold.

Gold and silver were also gaining yesterday after reports China's central bank is planning to set up a variety of new funds that will make use of the country's massive foreign-exchange reserves, including special-purpose investment funds and a foreign-exchange stabilisation fund dedicated to forex interventions. A forex stabilisation fund is generally composed of gold, forex and domestic currency, a report said.

"You're probably going to see more precious metals buying by their central bank," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist with Lind-Waldock in Chicago.

Meanwhile, platinum and palladium futures ended mixed. Nymex July platinum rose 0.4 per cent while June palladium on the exchange fell 1.1 per cent.

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