Gold steadies in Asia

Gold steadied on Wednesday as the dollar failed to give direction, while platinum came under pressure on concerns that last week's gains partly on supply worries had been overdone. Spot gold was at $758.80/759.60 an ounce, little changed from $759.20/760.00 late in New York. Platinum fell to $1,436/1,441 an ounce from $1,445/1,449 late in New York.
Gold gained more than $6 on Tuesday as a sharply weaker dollar prompted bargain hunting and continuing geopolitical tension in the Middle East also helped draw money into bullion. Technically, gold's resistance was pegged at last week's 28-year high of $770, while support was seen at $750.
The dollar hovered near the previous day's lows against the euro on Wednesday, weighed down by market expectations for the US to cut interest rates further this year and for the European Central Bank to keep rates steady. The euro was little changed at $1.4260, having fallen from a record high of $1.4349 on electronic trading platform EBS on Monday.
The dollar was steady at 114.75 yen. It hit a six-week low of 113.25 yen on Monday. The benchmark August 2008 gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 4 yen per gram or 0.1 percent to 2,826 yen. The most-active December gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange edged down 0.1 cent an ounce to $763.0 in electronic trade.
The World Gold Council said on Tuesday gold's price volatility eased slightly to 11.4 percent in the third quarter compared with 12.3 percent in the second quarter. South Africa's Anglo Platinum, the world's biggest platinum producer, said on Tuesday that it expected to restart production on Wednesday at three shafts it shut last week after a miner was killed. The three shafts produce about 40 percent of output at the Rustenburg mine, Angloplat's largest operation, which has eight shafts.
Platinum, mainly used to clean vehicle exhaust fumes and to make jewellery, hit a record high of $1,454 on Friday due partly to supply concerns. TOCOM platinum futures followed the decline in cash platinum, with the benchmark August contract falling 16 yen a gram or 0.3 percent to 5,176 yen. Cash silver edged down to $13.54/13.57 an ounce from $13.58/13.63. Palladium was unchanged at $360/365 an ounce.