PRECIOUS-COMEX silver extends losses; iShares holdings dip

Tue May 3, 2011 9:03pm EDT

SINGAPORE, May 4 (Reuters) - COMEX silver dipped 3 percent
on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session after
CME raised margins for the third time in a week, and holdings in
the iShares Silver Trust dropped to a 7-week low.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold edged down 0.4 percent to $1,534.75 an
ounce by 0033 GMT, headed for its third consecutive day of
decline.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 inched down 0.3 percent to
$1,535.50.
* COMEX silver SIcv1 fell as much as 5 percent to $40.47
an ounce, its lowest in nearly three weeks, before paring some
losses to $41.28, down 3 percent from the previous close.
* Spot silver shed 1 percent to $41.25.
* On Tuesday, a near 10 percent slide in COMEX silver led a
commodity sell-off, knocking the 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies
CRB index down 0.9 percent, its sharpest daily loss in
more than two weeks.
* Further dampening sentiment in precious metals, latest
U.S. data showed factory orders surged in March, a fifth
straight monthly increase, indicating a healthy manufacturing
sector well placed to support economic recovery. [ID:nN03300045]
* Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust , the world's
largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, slipped 1 percent
from the previous session to a seven-week low of 10,909.06
tonnes by May 3.
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MARKET NEWS
* The dollar hovered above a near three-year low against a
basket of currencies on Wednesday, as the euro held firm against
the greenback on expectations of further rate hikes by the
European Central Bank.
* U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors questioned the
sustainability of the rally in light of fresh worries about
earnings growth in the coming quarters.

DATA/EVENTS
0758 EZ Markit Services PMI Apr 2011
1400 U.S. ISM N-Mfg PMI Apr
1400 U.S. ISM N-Mfg Bus Act Apr

PRICES
Precious metals prices 0033 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1534.75 -5.63 -0.37 8.12
Spot Silver 41.25 -0.39 -0.94 33.67
Spot Platinum 1849.49 -3.82 -0.21 4.64
Spot Palladium 771.22 -12.47 -1.59 -3.54
TOCOM Gold 4072.00 -15.00 -0.37 9.20 22271
TOCOM Platinum 4904.00 41.00 +0.84 4.43 3055
TOCOM Silver 118.70 1.30 +1.11 46.54 1953
TOCOM Palladium 2030.00 -17.00 -0.83 -3.20 197
COMEX GOLD JUN1 1535.50 -4.90 -0.32 8.03 2351
COMEX SILVER JUL1 41.28 -1.31 -3.06 33.42 3789
Euro/Dollar 1.4825
Dollar/Yen 81.01
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Michael Urquhart)