Gold steadied in Asia on Friday as the euro rebounded against the dollar, after initially easing to $402.15 an ounce, but dealers said they were awaiting US data for direction.
By 0345 GMT, spot gold was at $403.45/404.35 an ounce, little changed from $403.50/404.25 in New York on Thursday, when it fell around $1 an ounce due to a firm dollar.
"Despite gold's pullback, it looks likely to continue trading in a range between $400 and $410," said N M Rothschild in a report.
"A break of either parameter will almost certainly trigger a bigger directional change, with silver sure to be following in hot pursuit," it said.
Silver, which often tracks gold's movements, was at $6.63/6.65 an ounce, unchanged from New York's levels.
Dealers said gold's performance would be determined by the US consumer price index due later in the day, which would provide fresh direction to the currency market.
The euro was at $1.2364, versus $1.2351 in late US trade. A stronger euro makes dollar-priced gold more attractive for the Europeans.
"The US dollar appears likely to strengthen modestly as it (the United States) grows faster than Europe and Japan. But large US budget and current account deficits will prevent a large rise in the US dollar." Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a monthly report.
CBA said the pace of dehedging by major mining houses would remain relatively strong this year and that would be support gold.
Gold could revisit $430 an ounce as central banks have committed to another five years of restricted sales, it said, adding gold output could rise in 2005.
"And $350 an ounce seems possible by H2 2005," it said.
Gold rose to a 15-year peak of $430 an ounce in early January and almost reached that level again in April.
Some dealers said physical demand had been quiet since prices moved back to $400 after touching this year's low of $371 in May.
In Hong Kong, a crucial bullion trading city in East Asia, many players were on the sidelines following a typhoon warning.
"Some of my colleagues will be leaving the office soon. There's no activity today because of the typhoon," said one dealer.
Platinum rose to $818/823 an ounce from New York's last quoted levels of $815/820. Sister metal palladium was at $223/228 an ounce, up from $219/225 in late US trade.
In Tokyo gold futures, benchmark June 2005 rose six yen per gram to 1,422 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed.