* Gold premium in Hong Kong up slightly this week-trader

 * Spot gold may fall towards $1,456-technicals

 * Coming Up: U.S. weekly mortgage index  1100 GMT

 By Rujun Shen	

 SINGAPORE, May 18 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Wednesday as
Asian buyers snapped up bullion after a three-day losing streak,
taking the cue from a weaker dollar, with the ongoing euro zone
debt crisis also supporting sentiment.	

 The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies 
while the euro climbed although worries over the euro zone debt
crisis kept investors nervous about piling up euro positions
after top European finance officials acknowledged that Greece
may have to restructure its debt. 

 " The slightly weaker dollar and some bargain hunting are
helping gold's rebound,"  said a Hong Kong-based dealer. 	

 " But the market does not have a clear sense of direction and
a lot of people are just waiting." 	

 The premium on gold bars in Hong Kong increased 10 cents
this week to between $1.30 and $1.80 per ounce over London spot
prices as buying picked up, he said. Scrap selling was still
muted, he added.     	

 Spot gold gained 0.4 percent to $1,491.26 an ounce by
0605 GMT. U.S. gold GCcv1 rose 0.8 percent to $1,491.20.	

 The technical outlook for bullion remains bearish for the
short term. Spot gold is expected to continue its fall towards
$1,456 an ounce, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.	

 " Gold can face more downside pressure technically if prices
break below the 50-day moving average at about $1,470,"  said Ong
Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures.	

 The long-term outlook for bullion still looks bright, and
expectations that Greece will restructure its debt may drive
some investors to seek safe haven in gold, she said.	

 Spot silver rose 1 percent to $34.27 an ounce. U.S.
silver SIcv1 climbed more than 2 percent to $34.26.	

 Spot silver hit an all-time high at $49.51 in late April,
buoyed by strong investment demand. But prices have fallen more
than 30 percent since as successive margin hikes in COMEX silver
futures which nearly doubled trading costs drove investors away.	

 Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust , the world's
largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 8 percent
from its peak in late April to 10,487.38 tonnes by May 17.	

 " Given that the key driver of prices remains investment
demand, they are likely to remain volatile until they find
support from physical demand, which we expect to materialise
around the low-$30s,"  Barclays Capital said in a research note.	

 Spot platinum climbed half a percent to $1,770.74,
recovering from a low of $1,744.20 hit on Tuesday, its weakest
since end of March. Spot palladium was down 0.2 percent
at $718.18.	

 Palladium, by far the worst performing precious metal with a
10 percent year-to-day decline, is likely to stage a better run
than platinum this year on booming automotive industry in
emerging economies such as China and India and concerns on  

Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/17/2011

Gold steady, silver rebounds as Asian buying supports

 * Soros dumped almost entire $800 mln stake in gold

 * Light physical buying in Asia supports

 * Palladium unlikely to repeat last year's rally 	

 SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday
and silver rebounded from a 5-percent drop in the previous
session, supported by light physical buying in Asia, while
investors scrutinise the currency market for direction.	

 The euro bounced from a seven-week low hit on Monday after
euro zone finance ministers approved a three-year, 78-billion
euro emergency loan programme for Portugal, easing worries over
the region's sovereign debt crisis.

 " People don't have a clear idea where things will go from
here, and are following the euro closely,"  said Peter Fung, head
of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.	

 Physical buying in Asia helped offset the slightly stronger
dollar, which edged up 0.3 percent against a basket of
currencies.	

 " There is some physical buying in Asia. The Chinese may be
purchasing during our time zone, but prices could test lower
levels once Europe and New York markets open,"  said a Hong
Kong-based trader.

 Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,492.29 an ounce
by 0257 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCv1 inched up 0.1 percent to
$1,492.30.	

 Billionaire financier George Soros dumped almost his entire
$800 million stake in bullion in the first quarter, while John
Paulson kept his enormous SPDR Gold Trust position largely
unchanged. 

 The news was not expected to trigger major moves in prices,
as it was leaked in media reports earlier in the month, traders
said.	

 Silver, leading the precious metals complex, rose as much as
60 percent from the end of 2010 to a record of $49.51 on April
28. The price has since dropped more than 30 percent, to trade
at $33.79. But it was still up 9 percent on the year.	

 " I still believe all metals have reached the medium-term top
for the time being  despite that, the long term trend remains
bullish,"  said the Hong Kong-based trader.	

 " In the next four to eight weeks, all metals and other
commodities should have further room to test lower, along with
equities." 	

 The rebounding trend in the dollar is likely to continue,
putting pressure on commodities, he added.	

 Platinum group metals refiner Johnson Matthey said
that palladium attracted so much speculative money last year it
would struggle to lure enough new investors to repeat the rally
in 2011. [ID:nLDE74C16H]	

 Spot platinum gained 1.1 percent to $1,770.49 an  

Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/16/2011

 LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Monday, as the
twin forces of deepening concern about the euro zone debt crisis
and the growing strength of the dollar offset each other, while
investors kept silver pinned near last week's 2-1/2 month lows.

 The euro slid to a seven-week low against the dollar after
IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a key voice in euro zone debt
talks, was charged with sexual assault, increasing uncertainty
on aid for Greece and other indebted euro zone countries.

  The dollar index .DXY, a measure of the greenback's
strength against a basket of currencies, advanced to its highest
since early April. 

 Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,494.49 an ounce by
0838 GMT, after ending flat in the previous week. Prices had
fallen by about 5 percent from the lifetime high of $1,575.79
hit on May 2.

 U.S. gold GCcv1 was nearly unchanged at to $1,494.50.

 " The dollar is coming into some safe-haven bids, with all
the uncertainties and the turmoil and there's maybe a
reassessment that we'll see the dollar aggressively firm,"  said
Credit Agricole analyst Robin Bhar.

 " So it's dollar strength and possibly euro zone jitters." 

 MIXED BLESSING

 Gold in euros XAUEUR=R did not get much of a lift from the
renewed concern Greece will have to restructure its debt without
further EU support and euro zone finance ministers were not
expected to make much progress tackling Athens' financial
crisis.

 Euro-priced gold rose 0.1 percent to 1,057.56 euros an
ounce, having fallen by 0.2 percent so far this year as the euro
has gained ground against the dollar. 

 " It is a bit of a double-edged sword, because in theory any
debt, any currency woes should play into gold's strength. But on
the other hand if the euro is pummelled and the dollar
strengthens, they offset each other,"  Bhar said.

 Euro zone finance ministers are likely to back a bailout
package for Portugal in a meeting on Monday.

 Spot silver XAG= fell nearly 3 percent to $34.23 earlier,
before regaining some lost ground to show a 1.9 percent drop on
the day to $34.59.

 U.S. silver SIcv1 fell by 1.2 percent to $34.61.

 Market participants are awaiting a speech by U.S. Federal
Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later in the day, in which he was
expected to repeat the stance that the Fed is in no rush to
raise interest rates.

SINGAPORE, May 16 (Reuters) - Gold held steady and silver
slid on Monday, pressured by a firm dollar as fears about the
euro zone debt crisis deepened ahead of a meeting of the bloc's
finance ministers.

 The euro slid to a seven-week low against the dollar after
IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a key voice in euro zone debt
talks, was charged with sexual assault, increasing uncertainty
on aid for Greece and other indebted euro zone countries.

  The dollar index .DXY, a measure of the greenback's
strength against a basket of currencies, advanced to its
highest since early April.

  Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,493.09 an ounce by 0625 GMT,
after ending flat in the previous week. Prices had fallen by
about 5 percent from the lifetime high of $1,575.79 hit on May
2.

  U.S. gold GCcv1 was nearly unchanged at to $1,493.10.

  " Gold could reverse recent falls and stand above the
support level of $1,500 over the next week, as safe-haven
buying could resume on re-ignited euro zone sovereign debt
concerns,"  said Natalie Robertson, commodities strategist at
ANZ.

 Euro zone finance ministers are likely to back a bailout
package for Portugal in a meeting later on
Monday.

 Spot silver XAG= fell nearly 3 percent to $34.23, before

regaining some lost ground to $34.54, in thin and volatile
trade.

 U.S. silver SIcv1 fell by 1.3 percent to $34.58.

 " The market is very quiet and waiting for fresh interest," 
said a Singapore-based trader, " People are cautious and don't
want to put on a position and see the market move in the other
direction." 

 Market participants are awaiting a speech by the U.S.
Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the day, in which
he was expected to repeat the stance that the Fed is in no rush
to raise interest rates.

 Gasoline and food prices pushed U.S. inflation to a
2-1/2-year high in April, but there was little sign of a
broader pick-up in consumer prices that would trouble the Fed.

 The Shanghai Gold Exchange, China's main precious metals
bourse, said it will lower the margin requirement on silver
forward contracts (T+D) to 15 percent on Monday's settlement
from 18 percent, after market volatility ebbed.

 Shanghai silver XAGTD=SGEX fell as much as 5 percent and
was trading at 7,575 yuan per kilogram.

 A decline in the prices of precious metals in recent weeks
fueled an exodus of investment interest in exchange-traded
funds, as well as in futures and options markets.

 Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world's largest
gold ETF, declined to a one-year low of 1,192.253 tonnes on
Friday. [GOL/ETF]

 Managed money sharply scaled back their bullish bets in
COMEX silver futures and options to the lowest level since
January, as prices tumbled as much as 30 percent from a record
high near $50 an ounce, U.S. regulator data showed on Friday.
[ID:nN13278663]     Rising global inflation, uncertainties in
euro zone's fiscal conditions and ongoing unrest in the Middle
East and North Africa will likely to continue to drive nervous  

Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/12/2011

Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/12/2011

Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/11/2011

Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/10/2011