* Gold futures touched a nearly four-week high Wednesday on short covering as the U.S. dollar eased, but trading was described as cautious ahead Federal Reserve minutes and as the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains within striking distance of the 20,000 level.
As of 12:15 p.m. EST, Comex February was $4.40 higher to $1,166.40 an ounce. March silver was up 9.1 cents to $16.50.
February gold traded as high as $1,168.60, its most muscular level since Dec. 9. However, the contract also remained in a relatively narrow range of roughly $12.
* Gold is holding on to its gains despite some hawkish tones from the minutes of the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
Gold has managed to shake off the hawkish tones and is unchanged from its levels seen throughout the session. February gold futures last traded at $1,165 an ounce, up 0.26% on the day.
* Gold has risen to the highest in nearly four weeks as the dollar edged back from a 14-year peak and physical demand from major consumers China and India increased.
Gold touched a near-four week high on Wednesday as the dollar edged back from a 14-year peak and physical demand from major consumers China and India increased.
* Spot gold climbed to its highest since Dec. 9 at $1,167.83 an ounce and was up 0.5 percent at $1,165.22by 1514 GMT. US gold futures climbed $3.80 to $1,165.90 an ounce.
* “The dollar index has consolidated and the big outflow from exchange-traded products (ETPs), which has been the biggest headwind for gold in the past few months, has stopped recently,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
* Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 1percent to 813.87 tons on Tuesday.
* A weaker dollar increases demand for commodities priced in the greenback by making them cheaper for holders of other currencies. Gold’s ascent in the past two weeks could come to a halt in the event of strong US non-farm payrolls for December, due for release on Friday, as these would give a boost to the dollar and increase optimism about the world’s largest economy, ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said.
* The Chinese New Year holiday in the first quarter of 2017 is likely to result in some physical restocking of metal there, analysts said. “Physical demand from China and India is quite strong at the moment,” said NAB analyst Vyanne Lai.
“With the upcoming Chinese New Year there is a seasonally strong period for jewelry and in India the shortage of cash has prompted some safe-haven buying from Indian consumers as a source of wealth.”
* Gold imports to Turkey rose to 36.7 tons in December, their highest monthly level in just over two years, data from the Istanbul bourse showed on Wednesday.
Reference: Business News, Kitco, Reuters
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