SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Gold prices advanced near another record in Asian trade Tuesday mainly on reports of IMF’s 200 metric tone gold sale to India.
Spot gold was seen trading at $1,064.99 an ounce at 11:15 a.m. in Singapore while December-delivery gold was at $1,065.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.
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The precious yellow metal was 0.5 percent away from a record after the International Monetary Fund said it is selling 200 metric tons of the metal to the Reserve Bank of India and as investors sought an alternative to a weaker dollar.
The IMF said it will receive $6.7 billion from the transaction with India. The Washington-based lender’s first bullion sale in nine years, almost half the 403.3 tons it agreed in September to sell, is part of a plan to shore up its finances and lend at reduced rates to low-income countries.
Bullion has gained 21 percent this year, as the dollar slumped 6.4 percent against major global currencies, and reached an all-time high of $1,070.80 on Oct. 14.
Meanwhile, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by the metal, were unchanged at 1,103.52 tons as of Nov. 2.
Among other precious metals, silver added 1.1 percent to $16.6425 an ounce, platinum advanced 1.4 percent to $1,354 an ounce and palladium was up 1 percent to $326.50 an ounce.
The US dollar and the yen edged down in thin trade on Tuesday ahead of a series of central bank meetings on interest rates. The euro edged up to $1.4775, having gained 0.35 per cent on Monday.
