December 27,2016

Gold edges higher in thin trade after holiday weekend

 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose slightly on Tuesday but trading was thin as investors looked for directions after the long Christmas weekend, even as a firm dollar capped gains.

    The dollar rose against the yen and euro as some investors emerged out of the holiday lull to hunt for bargains as the market entered the last trading stretch of the year.

    Spot gold  was up 0.3 percent at $1,136.80 an ounce by 0310 GMT, after earlier edging down to $1,131.35. U.S. gold futures  rose 0.4 percent to $1,138.20 per ounce.

    "People are waiting until Trump becomes the U.S. President and until we see his real policies or what he will do when he takes the office," said Yuichi Ikemizu, head of commodity trading at Standard Bank in Tokyo.

    "People are just watching the other markets like dollar and stock markets and kind of expecting the stock market and financial market to be good under Trump government. In that case, people don't need gold and instead invest in stocks."

    The U.S. currency had climbed to a 10-month high of 118.660 yen mid-month on expectations of stronger growth after U.S President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. A firm dollar curbs demand for commodities priced in the greenback by making them more expensive for holders of other currencies.

    Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday, in thin trade and with little to guide them as most major markets were closed on Monday for Christmas holidays.

    Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long position in COMEX gold for a sixth straight week in the week to Dec. 20, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed. 

    Gold demand in India remained subdued last week despite a sharp fall in prices to over 10-1/2 month lows as a severe cash crunch and holidays kept buyers away from the market, while premiums in China fell from near 3-year highs touched in the prior week. 

    Among other precious metals, silver  was up half a percent at $15.80 an ounce. Platinum  gained over 1 percent to $898, while palladium  rose 1.1 percent to

$663.22 an ounce - its biggest daily rise in nearly a month.