Silver, palladium, smarter metals on TOCOM, heading for weekly gains

Silver and palladium futures posted sharper gains on Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) on Friday after stronger than expected data from the world's largest economy on Thursday increased investment appeal for risky assets, pushing the dollar down.

News that Ireland was nearing a bailout also supported risk appetite and the sentiment helped commodities across the board.

October 2011 delivery silver was at 73.3 yen per gram ($24.97 per ounce) at around 11:05 GMT on TOCOM, up 4.62 percent from Thursday's close of 70.06 yen. Palladium rose to 1,875 yen per gram, 3.48 percent higher from previous close of 1812 yen.

Crude oil 2011 April delivery was at 43,490 yen per kilolitre, up from 43,120 yen last week. Gold was up 0.39 percent to 3,654 yen.

The US dollar was at 83.09 yen, down nearly 0.5 percent on the day and moving further away from a 6-week high of 83.77 it hit on Thursday. Against the euro, the greenback was at 1.3709, down 0.5 percent on the day.

Silver, palladium and rubber are the three major commodities heading to weekly gains on TOCOM, with factors like supply shortage helping rubber outperform its colleagues. At current levels, rubber is up 4.25 percent on week, silver up 2.8 percent and palladium is higher by 1.74 percent.

At the same time, gold was down 1 percent from last week's close on the exchange and crude oil down nearly 1.9 percent.

US jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 439,000 in the week ended Nov. 13, less than market consensus of 441,000, Labor Department figures showed. The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level in two years, while those receiving extended payments climbed.

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in November to the highest level this year. The Fed Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index rose to 22.5 from October, sharply higher than market forecast of 5. Readings above zero signal expansion.