Gold hits record on inflation worry, Europe debt

By Rujun Shen

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold rose to a record for the fourth straight session on Tuesday as inflation worries and euro zone sovereign debt woes continue to lure investors to precious metals.

Spot silver hit a new 30-year high of $28.16, and palladium extended gains to a new nine-year peak of $714.25. Spot gold rose to an all-time high of $1,414.60 an ounce, before easing to $1,413.50 by 0706 GMT.

"Liquidity is being thrown into the market place, the dollar is being debased as a way the U.S. government can get out of debt obligations, while Asian central banks keep buying dollars and keep their currencies cheap," said a Singapore-based trader.

"Hard assets are just going to continue to benefit. There is a good argument for these metals to go up. There is a lot of momentum to buy."

The target for this round of rally could be $1,475 or even $1,500, in the next three weeks, the trader added.

Vietnam's central bank said it would relax a gold import ban and allow in "reasonable volumes" to stabilise the domestic market, a move that is expected support sentiment.

Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, gained 2.43 tonnes to 1,294.196 tonnes, their highest so far this month.

Gold is expected to rise towards $1,430 per ounce, as the uptrend is steady and a wave "5" is advancing, said Wang Tao, a Reuters technical analyst.