SINGAPORE: Gold ticked up in early Asian trading on Monday as the near-week long US government shutdown raised fears Congress may struggle to raise the US debt ceiling, burnishing bullion's safe-haven appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold had gained 0.2 percent to $1,313.04 an ounce by 0011 GMT. Platinum rose 0.5 percent as mine strikes threatened to hurt supply.
* Democrats and Republicans remained far apart in ending the first government shutdown in 17 years over a spending bill, stoking fears they would not be able to reach a deal to raise the US borrowing limit by Oct. 17 to avoid an unprecedented debt default.
* Republican House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday not to raise the US debt ceiling without a "serious conversation" about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was irresponsible and reckless to raise the possibility of a US default.
* Congress should limit Wall Street's controversial role in commodity markets, and rewrite a law that gives banks broad leeway to own oil, metals and other raw materials, a senior US regulator said on Friday.
* India's customs department has cleared more than a tonne of gold, part of which was owned by Bank of Nova Scotia, at Mumbai airport after rule clarifications at a high-level meeting held last month, industry and bank officials said on Saturday.
* Platinum operations around the South African mining city of Rustenburg will face water use restrictions because of a drought, hurting the world's three largest platinum producers which have developments there.
* No. 1 platinum producer Anglo American Platinum is already facing a strike at its South African operations that it said was cutting output by an average 3,100 ounces a day.
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MARKET NEWS
Asian markets look set for a cautious start to the week on Monday, with US stock futures and the dollar coming under pressure due to the budget standoff. The dollar was still not too far off from its eight-month low.
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