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Asian gold closes lower despite short-covering

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold closed lower on Friday but recovered partially from losses after short-covering.

Bullion ended at US$297.00/298.00 an ounce compared to New York's US$298.10/299.10 close on Thursday. It opened here at US$297.75/298.75.

"Gold fell early after selling from overseas traders in reaction to continued declines in palladium and platinum prices, dipping to a low of US$294.75/295.75, but it recovered through Asian short-covering," a local trading house dealer said.

"I think gold is most likely to test US$295 and if it can't hold there, we may see a retracement back to US$290-292 levels," the dealer added.

Spot silver ended at US$5.15/18 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.20/22 on Thursday

Local gold ended HK$19 lower at HK$2,750 a tael.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society dropped to -4.10 from its previous fix at -2.00.-Reuters