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Asian gold closes firmer in two-way trade

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold closed firmer on Monday from New York's on Friday close in two-way trading.

Bullion ended at US$305.50/306.50 an ounce against New York's US$303.80/305.80 close on Friday. It opened here at US$303.00/304.00.

"There was good buying and short-covering interest in the afternoon session which took gold to a high of US$306.00/307.00, but then profit-taking by dealers moved it down a little," said a dealer at a local securities house.

"Sentiment towards gold was mixed, and the price was seen trading within a range of US$300 to US$310 in the short term," the dealer added.

Spot silver ended at US$5.23/26 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.23/25 on Friday.

Local gold ended HK$20 higher at HK$2,826 a tael.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society dropped to -8.41 from its previous fix at -5.00.-Reuters