London Gold Market Report from Adrian Ash

Gold Holds Tight as Christmas Shutdown Begins; Dollar Due for "Technical Bounce"

SPOT GOLD slipped into London's long Christmas break on Wednesday but held inside a tight range, dropping $5 an ounce at the AM Gold Fix of $836.75 as world stock markets also fell in thin holiday trade.

The London Bullion market � center of the world's wholesale dealing � is now closed until Monday 29th Dec. European stock markets, like New York, close at lunchtime.

Twenty-four hour gold dealing at BullionVault continues as normal.

"Trade's extremely thin in the physical market because of the Christmas and New Year holidays," noted one analyst in Tokyo to Bloomberg earlier.

"Continued fund selling amid thin trading volumes should exacerbate price volatility throughout the day," agrees Manqoba Madinane at Standard Bank.

"No major economic data releases are expected today [so] technical momentum signals could land in the driving seat," he adds, pointing to a possible bounce in the Dollar after last week's sharp retreat in its five-month bounce.