• Gold prices edged up on Monday on a weaker dollar and as uncertainty over U.S. policy under President Donald Trump stoked safe-haven demand, although gains were curbed with many in Asia on holiday for the Lunar New Year.
• Spot gold had edged up 0.1 percent to $1,191.98 per ounce by 0735 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.24 percent at $1,191.2.
• Trump's administration on Sunday tempered a key element of his move to ban entry of refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries in the face of mounting criticism even from some prominent Republicans and protests that drew tens of thousands in major American cities.
• "We've seen a rise in the amount of safe-haven buying in the past few weeks around the critical uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe, and the executive order signed by Trump has raised the uncertainty even higher," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.
• Trump's protectionist statements and a lack of detail on policy have led some investors to opt for gold, which is often seen as an alternative investment in times of geopolitical and financial uncertainty.
• The upturn in safe-haven buying comes at a time when physical demand has been sapped due to the Lunar New Year holiday in Asia, Hynes added.
• Hedge funds and money managers crimped their net long position in gold futures and options, following two straight weeks of increases. They also raised their silver holdings to the highest level since early November, data showed.
• Spot silver remained unchanged at $17.12 per ounce.
• Potential gold buyers in the key gold-consuming nation of India appear to be holding back on purchases of the precious metal in anticipation of the new budget that is to be presented on February 01, said Commerzbank in a snippet.
At the end of December, the Indian Ministry of Commerce had allegedly proposed reducing the import duty on gold from 10% to 6%. The duty has been at this level since 2013 and has contributed to increased gold smuggling, the bank added.
GFMS, a precious metals consultancy, estimated India’s gold demand at 580 tonnes in 2016, a decline of 34 per cent from the previous year. This level of demand has not been seen in India since 2003.
Reference: Reuters,Scrapregister
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