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Asian gold higher in afternoon on dealer buying

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold rose on Tuesday in quiet trading after professional buying from Australia, but the gains were pared by a lack of follow-through.

Gold bullion was quoted at US$291.10/60 per ounce late on Tuesday compared to New York's previous close at US$290.00/75 on Monday.

Buying by dealers in Sydney lifted the price briefly to US$291.50/292.00, traders said.

"Gold tested the downside for the last couple days and was holding, so dealers tried to see if it can go higher, but there was no follow-through," a trader said.

Gold also gained on Japanese buying after the yen strengthened against the dollar. The dollar was quoted at 105.25/35 yen down from 105.61 yen late on Monday in US trade.

The outlook was for gold to continue in its range of US$287 to US$293 for the short term as investors wait for the Bank of England sale of 25 tonnes of gold reserves next Tuesday, traders said.

In Tokyo gold futures ended unchanged to lower and platinum futures finished mostly lower on the yen's advance against the dollar.

Investors in TOCOM were mostly on the sidelines, awaiting the exchange's announcement on what it will do about its palladium freeze. The announcement is scheduled for on Wednesday.

Spot silver was quoted at US$5.08/10 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.06/09 on Monday.

Local tael gold was quoted HK$12 up at HK$2,697.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was -4, up from its previous fix at -8. -Reuters