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Asian gold higher in afternoon but remains weak

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold rose slightly on Tuesday after Japanese buying but was likely to drift lower under pressure from professional selling.

Gold bullion was quoted at US$283.30/80 per ounce late on Tuesday compared to New York's previous close at US$283.05/65 on Monday.

"There was some Japanese buying after the open which moved gold to a high of US$283.85/284.35, but on the upside we saw some selling by professionals," a trader said.

Gold's next move was hard to predict but was likely to be another downward move, testing US$281-282, the trader said. There was good physical support for gold at US$280, he added.

Another trader said long liquidations would contribute to a general downtrend for gold, which couldn't remain above US$287 in recent days.

The gold market could move unpredictably if the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday cause strong reactions in other financial markets, the trader said.

The policy-making committee of the US central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75 percent.

In Tokyo platinum futures ended mostly higher on concerns about Russian supply, but palladium futures ended lower on profit-taking. Gold futures finished higher in featureless trading.

Spot silver was quoted at US$5.24/27 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.23/25 on Monday.

Local tael gold was quoted HK$1 down at HK$2,629.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was -5, unchanged from its previous fix.-Reuters