Gold dances to tune of oil

SINGAPORE – Gold bounced around in a narrow band on Wednesday as it struggled to sustain early gains despite support from the physical sector ahead of festive seasons in Asia’s main consumers.

Spot gold started trading at US$591,60 an ounce, hit a high of US$592,75 and briefly dropped to a low of US$589,50. The metal was last quoted at US$590,80/591,80 in New York, where it gained nearly US$5 an ounce.Gold rose to its highest level in nearly two weeks to US$593,75 in Asia on Tuesday due to higher crude oil prices.In other precious metals, platinum hit a high of US$1,131 an ounce before retreating, while palladium gained on purchases from jewellery makers ahead of the Mid-Autumn festival in China in October, said dealers.The festive season in main buyer India was also expected to support gold, which fell to a near three-month low of US$571,20 on September 15.But dealers were divided over whether the recent rebound would be sustained and help bullion reclaim US$600 an ounce.”I personally think US$600 is a possibility.I thought if we are going to touch it, we might have done it yesterday,” said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in Sydney.Nampa-ReutersThe metal was last quoted at US$590,80/591,80 in New York, where it gained nearly US$5 an ounce.Gold rose to its highest level in nearly two weeks to US$593,75 in Asia on Tuesday due to higher crude oil prices.In other precious metals, platinum hit a high of US$1,131 an ounce before retreating, while palladium gained on purchases from jewellery makers ahead of the Mid-Autumn festival in China in October, said dealers.The festive season in main buyer India was also expected to support gold, which fell to a near three-month low of US$571,20 on September 15.But dealers were divided over whether the recent rebound would be sustained and help bullion reclaim US$600 an ounce.”I personally think US$600 is a possibility.I thought if we are going to touch it, we might have done it yesterday,” said Darren Heathcote of Investec Australia in Sydney.Nampa-Reuters