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Asian gold higher in afternoon on physical buying

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold rose slightly in quiet trading on Thursday but was expected to remain in a tight range awaiting Britain's next gold auction.

Gold bullion was quoted at US$288.80/289.30 per ounce late on Thursday compared to New York's previous close at US$288.20/289.20 on Wednesday.

Gold rose in the morning on Japanese buying and local physical demand when the price dipped below US$289, followed by Australian selling.

Activity was light, with Singapore investors mostly absent due to a public holiday.

The gold market was likely to remain in its recent US$288-292 range until after on Tuesday's Bank of England auction of 25 tonnes of gold, traders said.

"I don't think much is going to happen until after the auction. Everyone will sit tight," a trader said.

The sale, part of a UK policy of reducing gold reserves by more than half to 300 tonnes and replacing them with major currencies, was expected to give the gold market direction after two weeks of listless trading.

Spot silver was quoted at US$5.11/14 an ounce, unchanged from the previous close in New York on Wednesday.

Local tael gold was quoted HK$1 up at HK$2,679.

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