By Arpan Mukherjee Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--Gold nudged higher in the Asian session Tuesday on renewed optimism in stock markets that seem to have put away euro-zone debt worries for the time being, but a sustained uptick in the metal's price is unlikely due to a strong dollar, traders said. "The metal is likely to keep trading in a range for now as we keep waiting for some positive news from the euro-zone," said Ronald Leung, director at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. Dollar-denominated commodities become costlier to holders of other currencies when the greenback strengthens. Leung said he expects gold to keep trading in the $1,600 a troy ounce to $1,630/oz range in the near-term. Gold has been trading in line with risky assets for some months, but some safe-haven buying and a revival of interest from investment by funds at the start of the year have helped prices to gain 3.5% so far this year. At 0522 GMT, spot gold was at $1,619.20/oz, up $8.20 or 0.5% from its previous close. "There's not much catalyst for it to go down, and I still think there's a lot of upside potential for gold," UOB KayHian senior analyst Helen Lau said. According to a London-based analyst, a move through gold's 200-day moving average around $1,630/oz would reinforce bullish indicators for the yellow metal and could trigger fresh buying activity. In the case of silver, support is building, but it is "tentative" and the grey metal still has "a lot of work to do before it makes any upside headway," Societe Generale's head of commodity research Michael Haigh said in a note to clients. "The $28/oz-$30/oz price band is the level at which physical demand developed more than once during 2011 and there were signs of fresh interest emerging at these prices in early January, but it is very patchy," Haigh said. At 0522 GMT, spot silver was at $29.25/oz, up 20 cents while platinum was at $1,428/oz, up $5 and palladium at $623/oz, up $9. Platinum and palladium could be among "the strongest performing commodities" this year, Ross Norman, chief executive officer of London-based bullion dealer Sharps Pixley, said in a note. He said he expects platinum to average $1,822/oz in 2012 with support seen around $1,400/oz and resistance around $2,120/oz. In the case of palladium, Norman expects prices to average $846/oz in 2012, with support around $600/oz and resistance around $1,050/oz. Palladium supplies will be constrained in 2012 as Russian stocks draw to a close, which will prompt industrial clients to build stocks, he said. -By Arpan Mukherjee, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; arpan.mukherjee@dowjones.com

Source