COMEX gold firmed on Wednesday in subdued trade as investors awaited a meeting of finance ministers from the world's richest economies Friday for possible comments on the strong euro or renewal of a central bank gold sales pact.
In the run-up to the two-day Group of Seven meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, traders also kept Thursday's European Central Bank policy meeting in focus, in case it issues comments, or even lowers interest rates, to curb the rise in the euro, which threatens euro-zone export growth.
April gold settled $1.80 higher at $401.70 an ounce, trading from $399.40 to $401.80 - very tight compared to the big swings of recent days.
"Look at the dollar/euro range, that pretty much tells the story," said James Pogoda, a precious metals vice president at Mitsubishi International Corp. "It's really not much of a range there at all."
Estimated gold volume was a moderate 40,000 contracts.
Spot gold was quoted at $400.50/1.25, up from $398.40/9.15 late Tuesday. London's afternoon fix was $399.25.
April gold hit a two-month low at $395 on Monday.
COMEX March silver rose 2.5 cents to $6.148 an ounce, in a $6.185-$6.07 range. Spot rose to $6.14/16 from the prior close at $6.10/12 and the fix at $6.08.
NYMEX April platinum went down $5.70 to $820.60 an ounce. Spot closed at $823.00/828.00.
March palladium rose $3.95 to $241.15. Spot was priced $234.50/240.50.
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