By Arpan Mukherjee Gold was steady in a tight band in Asia Friday supported on hopes of further stimulus from central banks amid subdued trading as some investors remained on the sidelines due to lack of catalysts. The yellow metal continued to trade in a range as it looked for fresh cues about additional stimulus from central banks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's assurance that Germany is "committed to do everything we can in order to maintain the common currency," helped to modestly boost sentiment. At 0441 GMT, spot gold was at $1,615.47 a troy ounce, up 77 cents from its previous close. Gold investors continue to play the "will they-won't they" game with central bank policy decisions, but are unwilling to push gold out of its $1,590-$1,630/oz range, ANZ analysts said in a report. Hopes of increased liquidity due to additional stimulus from central banks are usually bullish for the yellow metal as some investors consider it to be a hedge against inflation. "Expect more of this [range-trading] as the Jackson Hole symposium approaches at the end of the month," they said, adding that charts show a slight upside bias in prices near term, but with very limited room to rally. Trading activity is yet to pick up after the end of the London Olympics and it is likely to continue till the end of the month, Director Ronald Leung of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong said by telephone. "There could be some physical demand if prices fall below $1,600," Mr. Leung said, adding that physical demand continued to be subdued. In silver, prices are likely to remain rangebound and struggle to gain meaningful traction above $29/oz, Barclays analysts said in a report. "We continue to expect silver industrial demand to remain fragile in the near-term," they say, adding that Chinese silver imports fell 20% on-year in June and exports tumbled 75%. Spot silver was at $28.15/oz, down 7 cents from its previous close. Platinum-gold price difference continued to narrow over the last few sessions as reports of supply disruptions following a violent strike at Lonmin PLC (LMI.LN) raised concerns about the company, the world's the largest producer of the metal, unlikely to meet its full-year production targets. However, the market is well supplied with platinum and we doubt that there should be any substantial price rally on the back of the stoppages, Standard Bank analysts said in a report. Spot platinum was at $1,444/oz, up $9 and palladium was at $585/oz, up $2. Write to Arpan Mukherjee at arpan.mukherjee@wsj.com

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