TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold inched higher on Monday, helped by a recovery trend in the euro against the dollar, but trade was light as many investors stayed on the sidelines with U.S. and European markets closed since late last week for Christmas.
Spot gold was up 0.8 percent at $1,112.35 an ounce as of 0710 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $1,103.80
It has risen more than 25 percent so far this year.
Spot gold fell to a seven-week low of $1,074.10 an ounce on Tuesday, but has since attracted bargain-hunting.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up 0.8 percent at $1,113.10 an ounce, compared with $1,104.80 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on December 24.
"Gold maintained its momentum, led by gains in the futures market. The euro's firmness continues to be in favour," said a manager at a Japanese trading company.
In the currency market, the euro slipped on the day to $1.4388 but was not far from Friday's high of $1.4437.
The euro was on the mend after falling as far as $1.4218 last week, its lowest since early September.
A weaker dollar is a plus for gold as it makes the precious metal less costly in key overseas trading areas such as Europe and Asia.
"Physical trade is slow, but there is general caution over volatility in the metal's prices in a seasonally thinned-out market towards the year-end," the manager said.
European participants are expected to mostly stay away from trading later in the day as British markets are closed for Boxing Day. Monday is also a public holiday in India, the world's biggest gold consumer.
In contrast, it is the last business day of the year for many Japanese companies, which resume on January 4.
Among other precious metals, spot platinum was at $1,481 per ounce, up 1.6 percent from New York's notional close of $1,458. But palladium was down 0.3 percent at $383.
The two metals rallied last week after news that a British firm had come a step closer to launching the first U.S. exchange-traded funds on the precious metals used for purifying auto emissions.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1,132.708 tonnes on Friday, unchanged since December 21.
Holdings hit a record high of 1,134.03 tonnes on June 1.
