Daily Gold Update

Source: Reuters

London— Gold continued to trade in a tight range in largely featureless afternoon European trade on Tuesday.

The market continues to look to external macroeconomic factors for direction, traders said.

�Currencies remain the key influence on the market for the time being,� said one.

�Players will be looking at (U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman) Alan Greenspan�s speech today to the National Association of Business Economics for signals on the Fed�s future plans.�

In the absence of fresh news, gold was seen continuing to trade in a narrow $2 range around $262.00 an ounce.

�It�s like watching paint dry. There�s nothing going on,� said one analyst.

Spot gold

Gold reached an afternoon fix in London at $262.00, down from the morning fix at $262.75.

Prices edged higher earlier in the day as moderate short-covering was seen ahead of the month-end options expiry, dealers said.

The $265 level was mentioned by dealers as a possible strike target for tomorrow�s expiry in this month�s over-the-counter options.

�It�s the obvious strike level…so at current prices the upside is that you would be quietly buying bits and pieces now,� said one.

Silver

Spot metal was last at $4.36/$4.38, down marginally from Monday�s New York close of $4.37/$4.39.

Platinum and palladium were little changed over the course of the day, looking largely neglected after recent price weakness which reflected expectations that technological advances could prompt more car makers to use cheaper substitutes.

At 1445 GMT spot platinum

�Palladium continues to find support at $760 to trade in narrow ranges,� Barclays Capital said in its daily report.