Gold edges up in thin trade as dollar dips

By Apeksha Nair

(Reuters) - Gold prices inched up on Wednesday as the dollar dipped, but moved in a range as investors stayed away in a holiday-thinned week, while palladium extended gains after touching a 17-year peak.

Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,284.10 an ounce as of 0729 GMT, after hitting its highest since Dec. 1 at $1,284.70.

U.S. gold futures were also up 0.1 percent to $1,289.30 an ounce.

"Asian trade was a relatively subdued affair, void of Tuesday's Chinese interest; the metal held a narrow range throughout the session," MKS PAMP trader Sam Laughlin said.

The dollar eased against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, while commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian dollar were underpinned by this week's rally in oil prices.

"Technically, the 38.2 percent of the move down from the 2017 high of $1,357 comes in at $1,282. The 100-day moving average is at $1,286. So, these levels will be watched for further moves," said Amit Kumar Gupta, portfolio management services head at Adroit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, the United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country's ballistic missile programme on Tuesday.

Geopolitical risks can boost demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen.

"More people are looking at gold as a portfolio rotation ... Both gold and silver are seeing some bids despite a firm currency," a Singapore-based trader said.

Asian shares rose on Wednesday with oil and copper prices rocketing to multi-year highs in an uplifting sign for global growth and inflation, while major currencies were becalmed in a holiday-shortened week.

Among other precious metals, spot palladium rose over 1 percent to its highest since February, 2001 at $1,069.50 per ounce.

Spot silver rose 0.3 percent to touch its best since late November at $16.58.

Platinum edged up 0.5 percent to hit a three-week high of $923.90.

(Reporting by Apeksha Nair, additional reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Biju Dwarakanath)