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Asian gold closes firmer in two-way trade

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold closed firmer on Friday from the previous New York finish in two-way trading.

Bullion ended at US$288.50/289.25 an ounce against New York's US$287.40/288.40 close on Thursday. It opened here at US$288.00/289.00.

"The gold market has been choppy with two-way interest," said a dealer at a local investment house.

"The weaker US dollar against the yen pumped up Asia short-covering interest in gold, which took gold to a day's high of US$290.25/291.00," the dealer added.

"But selling by overseas traders moved it down after Europe opened."

"Gold sentiment is still bad," another dealer said. "I don't see any immediate sign off it turning around and I expect gold to remain in the US$285 to US$295 range in the short term."

Spot silver ended at US$5.01/04 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.01/03 on Thursday.

Local gold ended HK$7 lower at HK$2,678 a tael.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society rose to -2.01 from its previous fix at -8.00.-Reuters