PRECIOUS METALS: Gold Steady Near Record; Silver Marches On

Gold and silver bothCheap Rosetta Stone Arabic
hit new highs early Monday as
Friday's strong showing in New York spilled over to Asian trade.

While gold experienced some profit-taking after touching a record $1,490.10 a
troy ounce, silver shrugged off concerns that it is overextended, staying in
positive territory above the $43 level for the entire session.

Inflation concerns remain the current driver although many brokers are now of
the opinion that silver in particular is mainly reliant on technical momentum
rather than anything more substantive.

Silver is the "metal of the moment, with no clear way of identifying why it
should outperform in a generally-high performing environment," Mitsui Global
Precious Metals said in a report.

At 0540 GMT, spot silver was at $43.20, up 15 cents since Friday's New York
close, after hitting a new 31-year high of $43.37 earlier.

Spot gold was at $1,486.20/oz, down 20 cents; on Tocom, the February 2012 gold
contract was at Y3,972 a gram, up Y10.

Phillip Futures said inflation is the current buzzword but gold is actually
getting fundamental support from low core inflation in the U.S., which is
enabling a continuation of dovish monetary policy.

It noted Friday's U.S. core consumer prices were up only 1.2% from a year ago.

"This reaffirms the Fed's view that underlying inflation remains low and that
easy monetary policy is appropriate," it said in a note.

Trade in platinum group metals was Cheap Rosetta Stone
again relatively thin in Asia, with worries
over Japan's auto industry output, high crude prices and the growth
implications of euro-zone debt problems combining to subdue sentiment.