• Gold prices nudged higher on Wednesday, as the dollar slipped following a media report that suggested a delay in the implementation of a major corporate tax cut under a crucial U.S. tax reforms plan.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,277.94 per ounce as of 0426 GMT. It fell about 0.5 percent on Tuesday.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 0.2 percent to $1,278.40.
• Senate Republican leaders are considering a one-year delay in implementing the centrepiece tax cut to comply with Senate rules, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.
• Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, forged ahead on Tuesday with legislation to reshape the U.S. tax code, which the Democrats have blasted as a give-away to corporations and the rich.
Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their own tax bill at the end of the week, and early indications suggest it could differ significantly from the House legislation.
• "Gold began on the front foot this morning with the dollar sold off aggressively...," MKS PAMP trader Alex Thorndike said in a note.
• The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.1 percent.
• "$1,280-85 remains the ceiling for now and it will be interesting to see whether this Washington Post article can generate some upward momentum today in Europe and New York," Thorndike said.
• An anti-graft purge in Saudi Arabia and U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to South Korea amid tensions with the North could boost prices of the yellow metal, analysts said.
"While the fundamentals are showing that gold prices should fall into 2018, these geopolitical events could cloud the fundamentals," OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan said.
• "The fact that oil has now broken out on the charts bodes well for further gains and gold could get pulled up with crude," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.
• In other precious metals, silver rose 0.3 percent to $17.01 an ounce. Platinum was up 0.1 percent at $923.40 an ounce, while palladium gained 0.3 percent to $995.50 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters
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