Gold Steady But Resistance Expected

LONDON (Aug 5 ) Gold futures remained steady near $ 1314 an ounce levels in the early London trades today, however resistance may be expected as dollar strengthens ahead of the release of U.S. service-sector activity in July.

European stock markets traded slightly higher in early action on Monday, as investors still mull over last week's Fed statement and jobs report and try to decipher what that means for a paring back of U.S. bond-buying. The German DAX 30 rose 0.3% to 8,430.20, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 6,683.40 and the French CAC 40 index rose 0.2% to 4,053.97.

On the currency front today, the U.S. dollar edged higher Monday, paring losses made in the wake of below-consensus job growth, while the Australian dollar fell to a three-year low on the back of lackluster domestic data and ahead of a possible cut in the policy interest rate.

The ICE dollar index, which tracks the greenback’s movement against six rivals, pushed up to 81.967 from 81.934 late Friday in North America.

Gold futures for December delivery are trading up $4% at $1,314 an ounce in electronic trade on the COMEX division of New York Mercantile Exchange.

On the data front today, the HSBC China Services Business Activity Index was 51.3 for the second month in a row, above the 50 mark signaling growth, though at a level HSBC called “historically weak.” The result followed a government version of the services index, released Saturday, which showed an improvement to 54.1 from June's 53.9 reading.

MCX October gold futures are trading a shed above Rs 28000 levels down more than Rs 20 per 10 grams. The commodity should face a resistance near Rs 28150-200 levels today with support around Rs 27900 levels.