* Silver hits 2-1/2-month high
* Spot gold faces resistance at $1,356/oz -technicals
* Higher base metal prices could boost inflation -analysts (Updates prices; adds comment, second byline, NEW YORKdateline)By Renita D. Young and Eric OnstadNEW YORK/LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Gold prices dipped onThursday, breaking a string of gains for four successivesessions, in response to a decline in global political tensions.Spot gold lost 0.2 percent at $1,346.20 per ounce by1:38 p.m. EDT (1738 GMT), while June U.S. gold futures settled down $4.70, or 0.4 percent, at $1,348.80 per ounce.
"Uncertainty has decreased somewhat. Geopolitical worries,trade risk have moved to the background," said ABN AMROcommodity strategist Georgette Boele.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped asummit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be successfulwhile Western missile strikes in Syria were less extensive thansome had feared. Earlier in the week, a senior administration official saidTrump delayed imposing additional sanctions on Russia. Boele said she expected gold to decline to around $1,330after failing to break above resistance."There was a bit of upward momentum, but you are still inthe $1,300-$1,365 range. It's more of a technical trade at themoment - it tries the upside again and if that doesn't succeedthen it falls back.""Rates are up and dollar-supportive. The Fed still seems tobe on the path for tightening. The Fed and cryptocurrencies, abit, have been hampering (gold)," said Dan Denbow, USAA seniorportfolio manager.Rising yields make gold a less attractive investment becauseit does not draw interest.Meanwhile, spot silver prices rose 0.6 percent to$17.25 per ounce after touching their highest since Feb. 1 of$17.35."A bounce in silver is not a surprise to me because you havelower liquidity and it's more sensitive to sentiment," Boelesaid, adding that she expected silver to follow gold lower incoming days or weeks."The precious metals fought through some headwindsyesterday. Everything except silver is succumbing to thoseheadwinds today," said Chris Gaffney, president of world marketsat EverBank.Silver also is used for industrial purposes, so it has beenlifted by a rally in base metals."The downside is relatively limited in silver because it wasthe one that was pushed too low. Also there are no positions tobe squeezed."
Silver has been the worst performing precious metal over thepast six months, little changed versus a rise of 4.5 percent forgold and 7.7 percent for palladium.Platinum lost 0.2 percent at $933.24 per ounce. Ittouched more than a three-week high of $953.50 earlier in theday.Palladium fell 0.3 percent to $1,032.40 per ounce,after marking its highest since Feb. 27 of $1,057.20.
(Additional reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing byJane Merriman and Richard Chang)