November 10, 2017

PRECIOUS-Gold steady near three-week high amid U.S. tax reform concerns

(Reuters) - Gold prices on Friday held near a three-week high touched in the previous session, underpinned by uncertainty over U.S. tax reforms and on track for the first weekly rise in four weeks.

Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,285.28 per ounce as of 0435 GMT, and was headed for a gain of more than 1 percent for the week. On Thursday, it touched its highest since Oct. 20 at $1,288.34 an ounce.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down 0.1 percent at $1,285.80.

"Further political uncertainty in the U.S. saw gold prices well supported. News that the Republican tax plan involved cuts being delayed until 2019 raised the ire of investors," ANZ said in a note.

U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that differed from the House of Representatives' version on several key fronts, including how they treat the corporate tax rate, the tax deduction for state and local taxes, and the estate tax.

Gold is often used as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.

The slower than expected pacing of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve is supporting gold, said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong's Wing Fung Financial Group.

The appointment of Jerome Powell as the new Fed chair has watered down expectations of a more hawkish stance from the central bank, he added.

"Overall though, the picture (for gold) is range-bound trading without much changes."

Higher interest rates tend to boost the dollar, putting pressure on gold prices by increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

The dollar was on track for weekly losses after dropping on disappointment with the tax bill put forth by U.S. Senate Republicans that would delay expected corporate tax cuts.

Spot gold may edge up to a resistance at $1,292 per ounce, a break above which could lead to a gain to $1,299, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

In other precious metals, palladium slipped 0.4 percent at $1,006.50 an ounce after touching its highest since 2001 at $1,026.10 on Thursday. It was up about 1.1 percent for the week.

Silver rose 0.1 percent to $17.016 per ounce. It has gained 1.1 percent for the week and is on track for its first weekly rise in four weeks.

Platinum was down 0.2 percent at $935.40 an ounce and was up 1.8 percent for the week.