* Bullion strikes record, silver at 31-year high
* Gold to rise to $1,477-technicals [ID:nL3E7F807C] (Updates prices, quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Gold struck a record high on Friday, and silver hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980, as a weaker dollar and concerns about inflation sent investors piling into precious metals.
Silver exchange traded fund holdings jumped to an all-time high and gold holding rose to their largest since mid-March as a surge in oil and other commodity prices threatens to bolster already rising inflation.
Investors are also looking to the prospect of more declines in the dollar following the European Central Bank's first rate hike since 2008.
Spot gold rose as high as $1,466.40 an ounce, on track for a gain of 1 percent this week.
"Corrections from here are likely to be shallow, with fresh investment demand emerging on all dips. $1,500 an ounce is around the corner and may be hit in the next few sessions," said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst at Richcomm Global Services in Dubai.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings rose to 1,217.209 tonnes by April 7, their highest since mid-March.
"Maybe there is some dollar-related buying because it's weakening. People see the ETF increasing a bit, so they want to buy some gold," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"There's a small amount of physical buying. Jewellers are covering shorts, but it's a very small amount. Everybody is looking for a new high, maybe $1,500 or $1,600."
Spot gold is poised to rise to $1,477 per ounce based on its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
Dealers noted selling of gold scrap from Indonesia and Thailand, but the light volume had little impact on prices, keeping premiums for gold bars steady in Singapore at between 70 cents to $1 an ounce.
Main buyer India, which is the midst of the busy wedding season, was on the sidelines after prices surged to a record.
Spot silver , seen as a cheaper alternative to gold, hit an intraday high of $40 an ounce, and is set to rise 6 percent this week.
IShares Silver Trust said its holdings hit 11,192.80 tonnes by April 7 from 11,162.45 tonnes on April 4. [ID:nL3E7F800Y]
U.S. gold futures for June hit $1.468 an ounce, a record high.
The euro showed resilience and touched a 15-month high against the dollar on Friday, bouncing back after dipping the previous day in a sell-the-fact type of reaction to a widely-expected rate rise by the European Central Bank.
The ECB raised interest rates for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis on Thursday and signalled it was ready to tighten policy further if needed to check rising prices. [ID:nLDE7351QH]
U.S. and Brent crude futures climbed to their highest in 2-1/2 years as supply worries stemming from attacks on Libyan oil fields and unrest in the Middle East offset demand concerns spurred by a major aftershock in Japan.
Japan's Nikkei advanced nearly 1.5 percent on Friday, with active short-covering by players including commodity trading advisers detected, after no further damage was reported at the crippled nuclear plant in northeast Japan following last night's aftershock.
"I would say the quake has little impact, but we do see selling from the physical market which cuts the premium," said a dealer in Tokyo, referring to sales of gold bars as bullion prices rose. [ID:nL3E7F72Y2]
Gold bars were offered at a discount of 25 cents to spot London prices, having been quoted on par earlier this week.
Precious metals prices 0541 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1465.76 8.31 +0.57 3.26 Spot Silver 39.96 0.45 +1.14 29.49 Spot Platinum 1792.99 11.89 +0.67 1.44 Spot Palladium 777.75 2.72 +0.35 -2.72 TOCOM Gold 4021.00 27.00 +0.68 7.83 60130 TOCOM Platinum 4937.00 45.00 +0.92 5.13 13719 TOCOM Silver 109.40 1.80 +1.67 35.06 1479 TOCOM Palladium 2133.00 7.00 +0.33 1.72 353 Euro/Dollar 1.4386 Dollar/Yen 85.09 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Michael Urquhart)
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