Silver, which has risen more than 17 per in value this year, and other precious metals await US Consumer Price Index data for February later in the day for signs of inflation.

Spot silver rose as high as US$10,30 an ounce - not far from a 22-year high of US$10,37 hit on Wednesday, when funds bought the metal on hopes the US securities and exchange commission will soon approve a proposed exchange-traded fund from leading ETF provider Barclay Global Investors.

Silver was later quoted at US$10,27/US$10,30 an ounce, down slightly from US$10,31/US$10,34 an ounce late in New York.

"I think it should stabilise for a while before charging again," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

"Silver has pulled up gold a little bit.

If the ETF is really launched, silver will go up and gold may have a chance to test the higher levels," he said.

ETFs are designed to reflect closely the price of an underlying market or commodity, such as a stock index or gold, and they trade like listed stocks on any exchange.

Leung said gold's failure to hold above US$555 had triggered profit taking from investors, adding that the metal was likely to trade in a tight range of US$550 to US$555 in coming days.

- Nampa-Reuters

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