Gold prices steady to weaker in Asia as investors eye China, India

Investing.com - Gold prices held steady to lower in early Asia on Tuesday as investors eyed easy monetary policy in China and continued import restriction in India

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery fell 0.02% to $1,206.40 a troy ounce.

Meanwhile, silver futures for May delivery rose 0.20% to $16.418 a troy ounce.

Elsewhere on Comex, copper for May delivery fell 0.07% to $2.693 a pound.

Overnight, gold prices slipped on Monday afternoon, after reaching a two-week high, amid conflicting reports about demand from the world's two largest purchasers of the precious metal.

Gold initially rose in morning trading following the release of a spate of economic data in China. For the month of February, the HSBC China Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 -- up a point from 49.7 in January.

China also cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in less than four months, as a number of economists expect more easing measures to follow throughout the remainder of the year.

In India, meanwhile, markets reacted to surprising news that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will keep the nation's tax rate for gold imports constant, in spite of speculation for months that the government could cut the import duty. India's finance minister Arun Jaitley retained the duty for imports of gold at 10 percent. In 2013, India increased the tax on three separate occasions.

In the months leading up to the announcement, jewelers and traders delayed wholesale purchases of gold in anticipation of the tax cut. The delay could boost India's oversea purchases of the metal from roughly 25 metric tons in February to approximately 100 metric tons in March.

The two Asian nations combine for more than 50% of all global gold purchases.

Last week, Gold reached a high of $1,219.20 following three consecutive days of price increases. Still, Gold fell more than 5% for the month of February following record increases in January. Gold ended the first month of the year up 8%, at once point reaching $1,300 a month. Gold investors in January were rewarded with the highest increase in prices in three years.