India's gold futures traded higher buoyed by a recovery in crude oil and a weaker dollar, but gains may be capped later in the session due to a firm rupee, analysts said. "Technically, the trend is weak, though a bounce to 13,030 (rupees) cannot be ruled out," said Dharmesh Bhatia, a technical analyst at Kotak Commodity Services in Mumbai. The benchmark gold February contract MAUG9 traded 93 rupees higher at 12,880 rupees at 11:37 a.m., after falling 4.8 percent in the previous six sessions. A stronger crude enhances gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar increases the yellow metal's appeal as an alternative to the greenback. "Gold's rally may be shortlived and we expect selling pressure at higher levels," said K N Rahaman, deputy research head, Way 2 Wealth Securities, adding a bounce-back is possible to 13,000 rupees in a couple of days. Gold has strong support at 12,700 rupees, Rahman added. Selling is recommended at 12,855-12,900 rupees with a stop loss of above 13,000 and with a target of 12,710 rupees. Bhatia added. Open interest for Feb gold on MCX was at 13,734 lots, down from 13,856 a day earlier. Volume on Thursday was 58.6 kgs.

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