* Gold to end retracement around $1,444-technicals [ID:nL3E7FC03N]
* Coming Up: U.S. ICSC chain stores; 1145 GMT (Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - Gold slipped nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, hovering below a record high and silver was off a 31-year peak hit in the previous session after long-term commodity bull Goldman Sachs advised investors to lock-in trading profits before oil and other markets reverse.
But a weaker dollar could cushion the fall as two top U.S. Federal Reserve officials, Janet Yellen and William Dudley, said the central bank should stick to its super-easy monetary policy, with inflation not a threat and unemployment too high. [ID:nN11296347]
Spot gold fell $10.66 an ounce to $1,456.09 an ounce by 0535 GMT. Bullion struck a lifetime high above $1,476 an ounce on Monday on the prospect of a weaker dollar.
"Some people may take profits and reduce positions. Everybody knows that Goldman Sachs recommended to reduce positions. That's why the market is a bit scared," said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong.
"I think sentiment is still bullish. It's still consolidating right now."
Dealers also noted some selling related to escalating fears over radiation in Japan, but the physical market still attracted bargain hunting from speculators and jewellers.
Japan raised the severity of its nuclear crisis to the highest level on Tuesday, putting it on a par with the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 because of the amount of radiation released into the air and sea. [ID:nLDE73B01P]
Spot gold may end the current retracement around $1,444 per ounce and resume its uptrend thereafter, according to Wang Tao, who is a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT1/20111204090716.jpg
Spot silver hardly changed at $40.12 an ounce, below a 31-year high at $41.93 struck on Monday.
Goldman noted "nascent signs of oil demand destruction in the United States" that could drag prices down, as well as the possibility of a Libya ceasefire. Nigeria's elections, which had added further risk to oil markets, had thus far not caused supply disruptions, it added. [ID:nN11303064]
"Some investors are using the Goldman Sachs recommendation as a reason to take profits. I would put the support level at around $1,450 level and of course, it is breached, we could see a much sharper retracement all the way to about $1,430 or even less than that," said a dealer in Singapore.
"I think the fundamentals for gold remain strong. This is just profit taking after a huge run-up. The outlook for the dollar is also still shaky."
Concerns about inflation also remain, traders said.
The International Monetary Fund on Monday said soaring oil prices and inflation in emerging economies pose new risks to global recovery but are not yet strong enough to derail it. [ID:nN08193089]
U.S. gold futures for June dropped $10.6 an ounce $1,457.5 an ounce.
In other markets, the euro retreated from Friday's 15-month high around $1.4485 to $1.4435, but traders say the January high of $1.4582 remains in play.
Tokyo stocks fell around 2 percent on growing worries the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami may be more severe that originally expected. Precious metals prices 0535 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1456.09 -10.66 -0.73 2.58 Spot Silver 40.12 -0.05 -0.12 30.01 Spot Platinum 1774.24 -6.06 -0.34 0.38 Spot Palladium 771.72 -9.63 -1.23 -3.47 TOCOM Gold 3932.00 -91.00 -2.26 5.44 91953 TOCOM Platinum 4808.00 -141.00 -2.85 2.39 20410 TOCOM Silver 108.00 -5.40 -4.76 33.33 3872 TOCOM Palladium 2102.00 -91.00 -4.15 0.24 268 Euro/Dollar 1.4404 Dollar/Yen 83.84 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by)
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