Gold: Little Change On Dollar Decline

Gold was little changed in Asia after gaining more than 2 percent yesterday, with the focus on the dollar's movement ahead of a report that may show U.S. housing starts fell to a 17-year low.

Gold advanced yesterday as the dollar fell after the U.S. reported the slump in manufacturing deepened. The housing report later today could further pressure the U.S. currency and boost the precious metal's appeal as an alternative asset.
Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $881.28 an ounce at 11:01 a.m. in Singapore, after gaining 2 percent yesterday. Silver added 0.5 percent to $16.785 an ounce.

The recent decline in the euro versus the dollar ``is not supported by the fundamentals and or the movements in other related asset prices,'' said analysts at Barclays Capital led by Kevin Norrish in a report yesterday.

Gold might continue to trade in a narrow range because ``although the dollar should continue to support prices, weak demand is likely to see gold trading in consolidation mode,'' the Barclays Capital analysts said.
The euro rose to $1.5478 at 11:13 a.m. in Singapore from $1.5448 in New York late yesterday.

Gold for June delivery gained 0.2 percent to $881.50 an ounce in after-hours electronic trading on Comex at 11:02 a.m. Singapore time. Gold for April 2009 delivery advanced 47 yen, or 1.6 percent, to 2,991 yen a gram ($889 an ounce) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at the 11 a.m. local time break.