Gold demand in Singapore in 1993 was at 21.4 tonnes and in Malaysia it stood at 22.4 tonnes. Six years after Singapore implemented the GST in in 1994,and Singapore only recorded 12.1 tonnes while Malaysia raked up 21.1 tonnes - Reuters Photo.
BENGALURU: Gold touched its highest in four weeks on Thursday as the US dollar stepped further away from a 14-year peak hit earlier this week, and on a technical rebound.
Spot gold was up 1.3% at US$1,178.36 an ounce by 0641 GMT. It touched a high of US$1,178.62, its best since Dec 7.
US gold futures climbed 1.2% to US$1,178.50 per ounce.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was down 0.7% at 102.030.
?"It's more of a dollar sell-off than a gold move," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA in Singapore. "?The dollar is weak across the board and gold itself has technically broken out of its down channel in December."
Spot gold has risen 5% from the more than 10-month lows touched in December.
Spot gold is expected to rise to US$1,182 per ounce, according to Reuters' market analyst for commodities and energy technicals, Wang Tao.
A firmer dollar curbs demand for commodities priced in the greenback by making them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Buying from China, the biggest consumer of the yellow metal, is also supporting the recent rally.
?"The Chinese New Year is around the corner. Gold kilobar demand is picking up right now with strong premiums in the mainland," a precious metals trader in Japan said.
Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged on Wednesday at 813.87 tonnes. They have dropped about 14% since the US presidential election in November.
Spot silver was up 1.5% at US$16.66. It earlier hit a 3-week high of US$16.70.
Platinum, which rose to a near 8-week high of US$960.10, was 2% higher at US$959.
Palladium rose more than 1% to hit a near 4-week high of US$747.80.
"?Palladium prices have been rising on the back of strong December car sales in the US," the Japan-based trader said.
Palladium is widely used to clean up exhaust emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles. The metal has risen 9.6% so far this week, its best since the week ending July 1. - Reuters
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