Gold futures are near steady early Wednesday as the market awaits a fresh catalyst, with the dollar and stock-index futures also not far from where they left off the previous day.
Around 9:22 a.m. EST (1422 GMT), lightly traded but nearby March gold is up a dime, or 0.01%, to $1,122.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Most-active April climbed $1.20, or 0.11%, to $1,122.50.
Most-active May silver rose 7.2 cents, or 0.42%, to $17.41.
Gold has ticked back and forth some in reaction to the U.S. dollar index, which is marginally lower, said George Gero, vice president with RBC Capital Markets Global Futures. Gold tends to move inversely to the greenback, benefitting from buying as a hedge when the dollar softens, and vice-versa.
Meanwhile, the impact of comments by a Chinese official Tuesday has faded as traders wait to see just what the country does with gold reserves, Gero said. Some of Tuesday's weakness was blamed on remarks from the country's chief foreign-exchange regulator saying China's future purchases would be limited by factors such as the relatively small size of the gold market and price impact of such an action.
"It's not what the Chinese say, but what the Chinese do that everybody is going to be interested in," Gero said.
The market is awaiting U.S. economic data later in the week, he added. The trade balance and jobless claims are due out Thursday, and retail sales and the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index are slated for release Friday.
Analysts and traders described gold as range-bound, holding within the price band from the last couple of weeks.
"Gold refuses to fall substantially, but resistance to a move higher is equally great at this stage," said Walter de Wet, analyst with Standard Bank.
A trader quipped that precious-metals bulls and bears seem to be in a "staring contest" for now.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765; allen.sykora@dowjones.com
