Gold futures rise on weakened greenback

CHICAGO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange edged higher Wednesday, recouping some of their recent losses after briefly tapping a nearly four-month intraday high as the U.S. dollar weakened against major rivals.

The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 5.6 U.S. dollars, or 0.43 percent, to close at 1,319.30 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the buck against six rivals, went down 0.3 percent to 92.31 as of 1830 GMT .

The dollar fell more than 1 percent against the Japanese yen, after the Bank of Japan's move this week to trim long-dated government bond purchases. That set up the U.S. currency for its biggest two-day pullback against the yen in some eight months.

A weaker dollar tends to provide a boost to dollar-pegged commodities, making them more attractive to users of weaker monetary units. Weakness in the U.S. stock market also lures investors back to the precious metal.

As for other precious metals, silver for March delivery went up 2.5 cents, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 17.035 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April added 6.5 dollars, or 0.67 percent, to close at 978.8 dollars per ounce. Enditem