Dubai gold price holds near one-month high, 22k priced at Dh147

Gold prices dipped early on Monday, weighed down by a stronger US dollar, but held close to a one-month high hit in the previous session.

In the UAE, gold prices are Dh156.50 for 24-karat and 22-karat can be bought for Dh147. The prices of 21 karat and 18 karat are at Dh140.25 and Dh120.25 per gram, respectively.

Globally, spot gold edged down 0.1 per cent to $1,293.28 per ounce (Dh4,750) by 0057 GMT. On Friday, gold jumped about 1.3 per cent to hit a one-month high of $1,297 an ounce due to uncertainty about the progress of an overhaul of the US tax code.

US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.2 per cent to $1,293.60. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, gained 0.3 per cent.

US President Donald Trump would not insist on including repeal of an Obama-era health insurance mandate in a bill intended to enact the biggest overhaul of the tax code since the 1980s, a senior White House aide said on Sunday.

Slashing taxes may give the US economy a temporary boost but the "sugar rush" may cause deeper problems ahead, investors at the Reuters Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit in New York said.

US home building jumped to a one-year high in October as disruptions caused by recent hurricanes in the South faded and communities in the region started replacing houses damaged by flooding.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's efforts to form a three-way coalition government that would secure her a fourth term hit a major setback on Sunday after a would-be coalition partner pulled out of exploratory talks, citing irreconcilable differences.

The euro zone economy remains dependent on cheap credit and the European Central Bank is using the extension of its massive bond buys to push out any expectation for a rise in borrowing costs, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Friday.

Hedge funds and money managers raised their net long positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Nov.14, the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

Gold prices in India traded at a discount for the first time in six weeks as the key wedding season failed to spur fresh demand, while high prices curbed appetite for the precious metal in major Asian centres except China.

Asian shares started the week on the back foot on Monday, pressured by a retreat on Wall Street amid tax reform uncertainty while the euro skidded after German coalition talks hit an impasse.

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