NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures are a touch lower as investors aren't particularly interested in perceived riskier assets at the moment, and the metal has run into prices participants consider too high for the time being.
In recent activity, April gold was down $2.30, or 0.2%, at $1,110.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The gold price remains range-bound, with strong resistance around $1,125," said Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet. "Since the Chinese New Year, there has been little buying interest in the physical market, which seems to have capped upside."
He says support for gold is at $1,110.
"We're still stuck in a range," a trader says.
Gold is tracking movements in the euro and the greenback, he says.
The ICE Futures U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.227 point, or 0.3%, at 80.734 points, as weaker-than-expected euro-zone economic data and continued concern over fiscally strapped Greece cause tolerance for risk to wane.
The euro took a hit after Germany's Ifo business expectations survey index surprised markets by falling.
A stronger dollar often weakens gold prices because a rising greenback makes gold more expensive for purchasers using other currencies, reducing demand.
Also, in recent months gold has been trading as a risk play against the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar, with worries about Greece and wider euro-zone financial health one of the prime drivers of risk-on, risk-off trade pattern in recent weeks.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2139; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
