Silver futures seesawed but still flexed muscles near 22-year highs early Friday amid concern that the market was overbought after Thursday's surge above $10 an ounce, traders said.
Speculation that US regulators would soon approve a silver-backed exchange-traded fund designed to make it easier for investors to invest in the white metal sent prices up more than 4 percent on Thursday.
Momentum waned before the weekend, however, with no ruling from the Securities and Exchange Commission or word from Barclay's Global Investors International, which filed for iShares Silver Trust in June.
Silver for May delivery at 9:42 am EST (1442 GMT) was off 1.3 cents at $10.195 an ounce at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Moments earlier it was up, having traded from $10.165 to $10.33, the highest benchmark price since early 1984.
Spot silver was quoted at $10.18/21, unchanged from Thursday's close in New York. Friday's daily spot reference rate was fixed at $10.26 in London. Gold scored a 24-day high, coming within trading distance of 25-year highs from early last month, before slipping in morning trade.
Gold for April delivery was down $1.90 at $568.50 an ounce, touching $567.20 and a peak of $572.50.
Benchmark futures peaked at $579.50 on February 2, before profit-taking knocked prices down to $537.80 on February 14. Spot gold was at $566.40/7.30, down from $568.30/9.20. Friday's morning fix was at $568.60.
NYMEX April platinum was up $8.20 at $1,063 an ounce, reaching a three-week high at $1,070. Spot fetched $1,058/1,062. June palladium rose to its highest price since February 7 and was up $4 at $307 an ounce. Spot palladium was quoted $301/305 an ounce.
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