LONDON: Gold was little changed on Wednesday but analysts expect further gains after a retreat in the dollar and signs of healthy physical demand.

Gold had the potential to claw higher in the short term after the dollar pulled back from near nine-month highs and due to increasing appetite from speculators, one analyst said.

Spot gold had declined 0.33 per cent at $1,269.63 an ounce by 1450 GMT.

In the previous session, it hit $1276.67, its highest since Oct. 5. U.S. gold futures edged 0.28pc lower to $1,270.

The dollar index slipped after rising as high as 99.119 on Tuesday, its highest level since Feb. 1, largely fuelled by expectations of a U.S. rate hike in December.

Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.34pc to 956.83 tonnes on Tuesday from 953.56 tonnes on Monday.

In other precious metals, platinum rose 0.56pc to $968.40 an ounce after paring gains from an intraday high of $970.80, the strongest since Oct 10. Silver shed 0.62pc to $17.67 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.44pc to $630.20.

Published in Dawn October 27th, 2016