• Gold slipped on Thursday as the dollar gained on positive economic data from China and the United States, but held above a key $1,300-an-ounce level as safe haven demand due to North Korean tensions capped losses.
Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,303.11 per ounce at 0638 GMT, but was on track for a near 3 percent monthly gain.
• "Gold will be somewhat at the mercy of random month-end U.S. dollar flows today, with the technical picture still constructive as long as the $1,284.00support holds," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
• "Barring a quick resolution to the current stalemate, gold could remain buoyed above $1,300/oz for some time," OCBC Bank said in a note.
The bank revised up its year-end outlook for gold to $1,250 an ounce from $1,200 previously.
"Despite our revision, gold prices are expected to trend lower into the fourth quarter given our call for the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike its benchmark rate by another 25 basis points before the year is up."
• Spot gold may test a support at $1,295.97 per ounce, a break below which could cause a loss to the next support at $1,287, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
• Among other precious metals, silver slid 0.3 percent to $17.33 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters
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