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Gold remains firmer

NEW YORK: COMEX gold remained firmer at midday, managing a modest bounce after becoming oversold during last week's slide, although the market stalled at nearby resistance levels, traders said.

At 1245 EDT, June gold was up $0.70 at $393.40 an ounce, traded from $394.00 to $392.70.

Dealers quoted bullion at $391.30/$391.80.

One floor source said players probed for buy stops thought waiting above resistance at $394 in the June contract, although the market was unable to gather enough momentum to break above that level.

Traders said the market had largely discounted a proposal under discussion at the IMF/World Bank spring meeting for the sale of a modest amount of IMF gold.

They doubted the plan would be approved anytime soon and expected that any disposal of IMF gold would be modest and stretched out over a long period of time.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said in a press statement Monday that the U.S. was prepared to consider an IMF gold sale, although top German and Italian finance officials over the weekend expressed continued opposition to the scheme, suggesting it faces an uphill battle to gain approval.-Reuter