Forexpros – Gold futures were steady on Tuesday, trading close to the previous session’s six-week high as markets awaited the outcome a critical Italian parliamentary vote on budget reforms later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,786.25 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, easing down 0.1%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.35% to trade at a daily low of USD1,785.35 a troy ounce.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government faces a key parliamentary vote later in the day, amid growing opposition from within his own political party. Berlusconi resisted calls to resign on Monday, as Italian borrowing costs surged to euro-lifetime highs.
Meanwhile, in Greece officials were to announce the new head of an interim government later Tuesday, as efforts continued to avert an imminent default by implementing a new bailout program.
Also Tuesday, finance ministers from the European Union member states were to meet in Brussels to discuss the region’s ongoing financial crisis.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.1% to trade at 77.22.
Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Some mild profit-taking also pressured prices, as the previous day’s 2% rally that took prices to a six-week high of USD prompted some investors to sell their position and lock in gains.
Meanwhile, data from the Hong Kong government released earlier showed that Chinese gold imports from Hong Kong rose to a record high in September, as Chinese consumers took advantage of falling prices to buy the precious metal.
According to the data, China imported 56.9 tonnes of gold in September, a sixfold increase from 2010. Monthly gold imports for most of 2010 averaged approximately 10 million tonnes. China is the world’s second largest gold consumer, following India.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery edged 0.15% lower to trade at USD34.77 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery rose 0.47% to trade at USD3.552 a pound.
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