By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 -- The gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives remained untraded at the close today on lack of demand, while the US COMEX gold futures made gains due to a weaker US dollar, said an analyst.

Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said a weaker US dollar effectively threw a lifeline around bullion, helping it rally back from two weeks of declines.

"Gold popped back above US$1,800 (US$1=RM4.08) per ounce as the US dollar retreated. While gold can go a bit higher, it still faces uphill challenges from vaccine optimism," he told Bernama.

At the close, gold futures on Bursa Malaysia for contract month December 2020 and January 2021 were unchanged at RM252.50 and RM250.00 per gramme respectively, while February 2021 and March 2021 respectively rose 20 ticks each to RM231.0.

Volume was nil while open interest stood at 23 contracts.

At 5 pm today, the price of physical gold went up RM1.83 to RM233.04 a gramme.

-- BERNAMA