Gold slightly higher in light holiday trade in Asia

Investing.com - Gold futures edged higher during Monday’s Asian session amid light holiday trade. Markets in Hong Kong and China are closed for Lunar New Year festivities.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for March delivery added 0.04% to USD1,667.65 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. The contract traded as high as USD1,669.75 and as low as USD1,666.90 per ounce.

Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,653.35 a troy ounce, the low from January 28 and near-term resistance at USD1,685.65, February 5’s high. Last week, gold futures fell modestly, losing 0.1%.

Year-to-date, gold is off 0.8% as upbeat U.S. and Chinese economic has fed demand for riskier assets such as stocks. Last week, the S&P 500 rose for the sixth consecutive and is now found trading at five-year highs. Data indicate that holdings of physical gold at the SPDR Gold Shares, the world’s largest gold exchange traded fund, fell slightly to to 1326.89 tons on Friday from 1329.90 tons on Thursday.

With the euro continuing to pull back from multi-month highs against the dollar, gold could come under additional selling pressure. Dominated in U.S. dollars, gold and other commodities are usually boosted by a weaker greenback.

Gold’s safe haven status could prove useful this week as the U.S. is expected to release retail sales for January and consumer sentiment for early February. The January retail sales number is expected to show no growth from the previous month due to shrinking pay checks and higher gas prices. The consumer accounts for nearly 70% of GDP in the world’s largest economy.

Elsewhere, Comex silver for April delivery rose 0.06% to USD31.46 per ounce. Copper for March delivery gained 0.11% to USD3.763 per ounce. Action in the red metal could be slow this week with Chinese markets closed. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.