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Asia gold unchanged in afternoon, range trade seen

HONG KONG: Asian spot gold was unchanged on Wednesday in a thin market as light physical buying was offset by professional selling.

Gold bullion was quoted at US$281.50/282.00 per ounce late on Wednesday compared to New York's previous close at US$281.10/282.10 on Tuesday.

"The market lacks direction. We need to see something from the outside, like a collapse of stocks or surge in oil prices," a trader said.

In the short term gold was seen trading between US$280.50 and US$283.50.

The latest COMEX data on open interest, due to be released on Friday night in New York, may give the market some stimulus, traders said.

In Tokyo gold futures ended lower, reflecting a weaker tone in New York overnight and the yen's modest rise against the dollar.

Spot silver was quoted at US$5.10/13 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.10/12 on Tuesday.

Local tael gold was quoted unchanged at HK$2,614.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was -4, down from its previous fix at 1.-Reuters