Gold retreats from record high

London - Gold fell from a record high hit earlier on Thursday as the dollar rebounded from its lows, but the market was still expected to seek higher ground due to prospects for central bank buying and further dollar weakness.

Spot gold hit a record high of $1,194.90, but had retreated to $1,182.70 an ounce by 1023 GMT versus its last quote of $1,190.30 in New York late on Wednesday.

"The sentiment towards gold is still very positive," said Suki Cooper, analyst at Barclays Capital. She cautioned however that prices could be subject to a short term correction.

Bullion has gained more than 37 per cent this year - including a 13-per-cent rise in November alone on dollar weakness, expectations of further reserve diversification by central banks and fears of inflation next year.

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Gold's rally pulled other precious metals higher.

Platinum rising as high as $1,480.00 per ounce, its highest since late August, 2008.

Silver was at $18.42 an ounce versus $18.82 an ounce.

Palladium was at $367.50 an ounce versus $370 an ounce on Wednesday.

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Other Metals

Copper off 14-month top

LONDON - Copper fell from a 14-month high hit earlier on Thursday as the U.S. dollar bounced off multi-months lows and traders grew concerned the metal has priced in all the supportive news to date and run ahead of weak fundamentals.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,904.75 (U.S.) a tonne at 1030 GMT from a close of $6,985 on Wednesday. Earlier, the metal used in power and construction hit a high of $7,060, its highest since September last year.

"Speculators are moving the market, swinging on the back of the U.S. currency," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital. "I agree copper is looking good for next year but right now we have so much copper stock ... I think we've got to correct from here. There's just no Chinese demand, they're not going to buy at these high prices."

Aluminum, used in transport and packaging, was at $2,037 a tonne versus $2,047.

Zinc was at $2,275 from $2,308.

Lead was at $2,370 from $2,390.

Tin was at $14,930 from $15,050.

Nickel was at $16,800 a tonne from $17,000, with LME stocks up 390 tonnes to total 133,446, a level not seen since early 1995

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	24 Hour Base Metals

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