Commodity Online
SINGAPORE : Bullion prices eased marginally in Asian trade Monday but remained within sight of a two-month high above $960 an ounce as it retained its sheen in the face of dollar weakness.
Bullion was seen trading at $954.20 an ounce at 11.00 Singapore time, down 0.2 percent from New York's notional close of $955.85 an ounce.
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Crude oil's rise to a six-month high has also benefited gold, which is often bought both as an alternative to holding the dollar and as an inflation hedge.
Gold markets showed little initial reaction to reports of North Korea’s nuclear test on Monday.
Public holidays on Monday in the United States and the United Kingdom could also have been a factor in the lack of market reaction analysts said.
On Friday, bullion touched a high of $961.30 an ounce, its highest since March 20.
The dollar steadied on Monday, holding near a five-month low hit against a basket of currencies last week when concern that the United States may lose its AAA-rating status prompted investors to sell the world's reserve currency.
Oil prices also fell towards $61 a barrel on Monday, shedding some of the previous session's gains but hovering not far off their six-month high, on growing risk aversion after North Korea said it had successfully conducted a nuclear test.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings rose to 1,118.76 tones as of May 22, up 13.14 tones or 1.2 percent from the previous business day.
