US gold futures advanced early on Tuesday after a recent shake-out made the metal cheaper for gold bulls, but uncertainty about the market's short-term direction and a weak euro capped the gains, dealers said.
Other precious metals also moved higher in early business, riding gold's coattails.
Benchmark December delivery gold was up $1 at $461.40 an ounce by 10:44 am EST on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. The range ran from $457.70 to $463.30, which was the firmest level since Friday when gold was on the way down to a seven-week low on heavy fund selling.
Technically, some chartists are calling for an ultimate move down to $1.00/1.05 in the euro if the weakness persists.
Gold at times comes back into sync with the euro/dollar as players watch the single European currency fall to around $1.1750 where it first started trading in January 1999.
Open interest now stands more than 50,000 contracts below its recent historical highs. Interest as of November 4 fell 6,080 lots to 320,068 contracts, COMEX data showed. December gold futures hit an 18-year high at $483.10 in October on buying fuelled by concerns over inflation and many players still feel gold can test the key $500 level before too long.
Physical buying should continue to prop up gold at cheaper levels, despite the more robust dollar, analysts said.
Spot gold traded at $461.20/462.00 an ounce, against Monday's late quote of $459.10/9.90. Bullion dealers in London fixed the afternoon spot reference price at $461.60.
December silver gained 3.5 cents to $7.64 an ounce, trading from $7.54 to $7.67. Spot was at $7.59/62 an ounce, from $7.56/59 previously. It fixed at $7.5225.
NYMEX January platinum rose $10.20 to $945 an ounce. Spot platinum last was priced at $936/940. December palladium climbed $3 to $233 an ounce. Spot palladium changed hands $226/229.
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