Gold futures in New York steadied above $430 an ounce on Wednesday, boosted by speculative and options-related buying, but prices kept within a broad overall range, traders said. Gold for August delivery climbed $1.30 to $430.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, moving between $428 and $430.90. "We're still seeing some two-way flow, but there seems to be a bullish overtone to the metals," said Andy Brosoff, vice president of precious metals at Mitsubishi International Corp.
"There is some more call buying in the marketplace and the dollar's losing a little ground, giving gold some support," he said.
But gold's roughly $420-$440 range remains intact, he added, and the market would be curious to see if central bank selling would resume if prices managed to get back above $440.
Spot gold traded at $428.20/8.90 an ounce, above Tuesday's New York close at $426.75/7.50. Wednesday's London afternoon fix was $428.70. July silver rose 6.0 cents to $7.34 an ounce, dealing within a $7.27-to-$7.40 range. Spot silver fetched $7.30/33 an ounce, versus Tuesday's close at $7.24/27. The London fix was flat at $7.255.
On the board at NYMEX, July platinum gained $4.70 to $879.40 an ounce. Spot platinum reached $875/880. September palladium was up $4 at $191 an ounce. Spot was at $188/192.