The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, slipped to 80.835, compared with 80.937 in late North American trade Wednesday.
Gold for December delivery are trading $7.7 at $1,731.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it ended up $4.60, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,728.20 an ounce after trading between $1,718.40 and $1,732. Comex floor trading will remain closed Thursday for the holiday and open for an abbreviated session Friday.
Gold also got a boost yesterday after the International Monetary Fund’s monthly statistics reportedly showed central banks in emerging countries increased their holdings in October.
Euro-zone concerns however continued to bother the market as the region’s finance ministers failed to agree on conditions to unlock what would be Greece’s next aid disbursement. They will meet Monday to resume negotiations, Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said.
The data released today showed that, Chinese manufacturing activity improved for the first time in more than a year in November, the preliminary reading of a survey by HSBC showed Thursday. In October, the final reading of the HSBC China manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5. The flash, or preliminary reading, is based on about 85% to 90% of the responses in HSBC's survey.
MCX December gold futures may open today’s session near Rs 31800 levels with resistance near Rs 31870 levels.
