Tokyo gold up slightly; platinum hits 15-month high

Tokyo gold futures edged higher on Monday, supported by a firmer dollar-based spot price, but the yellow metal was generally rangebound and lacked clear direction. The June platinum futures contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose above 3,100 yen at one point for the first time since April 20, 2004, supported by steady buying by fund operators due to the market's bullish technical trend.
A slightly weaker yen supported TOCOM gold futures but gains were pared as the key contract met several lines of short-term technical resistance, traders said.
"There are very few market-moving factors right now, which is keeping gold prices in a tight, boxed range," said Koji Suzuki, a manager at Star Futures Securities.
The key June TOCOM gold contract closed up 4 yen, or 0.26 percent, at 1,529 yen per gram.
The June gold contract just broke through its seven-day moving average (MA) of 1,527 yen, but struggled near its 14-day MA of about 1,529 throughout the day.
Other contracts closed up three to six yen.
At 0702 GMT, spot gold was at $424.75/$425.25 an ounce, compared with $424.50/$425.30 in New York on Friday.
It rose as high as $425.50 in Asia on buying led by investors and jewellers.
Gold hit its highest level in nine days at $426.90 on Friday as the dollar backed off from recent highs against key currencies following China's revaluation of the yuan.
Traders said the revaluation of the Chinese currency would provide positive psychological support to the market. "The yuan revaluation is positive given views that the purchasing power of the Chinese will increase and could raise their appetite for gold, but that shouldn't affect the market immediately," Suzuki said. The benchmark platinum contract rose to a fresh 15-month high, supported by steady buying by fund operators, traders said. Fund operators have been shifting into platinum after seeing the key contract supported above 3,000 yen in the last month, traders said. Sentiment improved further after the contract broke decisively through closely watched resistance around 3,040-3,060 yen last week.
The metal was not highly popular, with volume in TOCOM platinum struggling, although such thinness in activity was exaggerating the upward trend.
"Looking at technical trends, speculators are more keen about taking new positions in platinum," Suzuki said.
June platinum closed up 10 yen, or 0.32 percent, at 3,095 yen per gram. Other contracts closed up 6 to 11 yen.