Gold ticks up in light trade after holiday weekend

Gold prices edged up in early Asian hours on Tuesday, helped by a softer dollar, although trading was thin after the long Christmas weekend.

* Spot gold was up 0.3% to $1,802.63 per ounce as of 0021 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,810.00.

* The dollar index slipped 0.1%, making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers.

* Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending rose 0.1% in November after climbing 0.4% in October, while inflation cooled further.

* The European Central Bank must be prepared to take the heat and raise interest rates further, ECB policymaker Isabel Schnabel said in an interview published on Saturday.

* In Japan, physical gold buyers took advantage of a dip in domestic prices last week following a surprise policy tweak by the central bank, while demand outlook in top consumer China was overshadowed by a flare-up in COVID-19 infections. [GOL/AS]

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.1% to 913.01 tonnes on Friday. [GOL/ETF]
* Spot silver gained 0.7% to $23.88, platinum was up 0.5% to $1,027.00 and palladium rose 0.6% to $1,774.00.