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Asian gold ends slightly firmer in two-way trade

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold closed slightly firmer on Friday from the previous New York close in choppy two-way trading.

Bullion ended at US$302.00/303.00 an ounce against New York's US$301.00/302.50 close on Thursday. It opened here at US$300.50/301.50.

"The gold market has been choppy with two-way interest," said a dealer at an international trading house.

"The price of gold was pushed down in the morning by investors taking profit as the dollar strengthened against the yen," the dealer added. "But short-covering and buying pared losses in the afternoon."

"Sentiment is still bad," another dealer said. "I don't see any immediate sign of it turning around and expected gold to remain in the US$295 to US$310 range in the short term."

Spot silver ended at US$5.22/25 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.22/24 on Thursday.

Local gold ended HK$8 lower at HK$2,796 a tael.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society rose to -5.00 from its previous fix at -8.00.-Reuters