Gold higher

Bengaluru : Gold prices rose to their highest level in one month on Thursday in light holiday trade and as the dollar fell to a four-week low.

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,289.10 an ounce at 0322 GMT, after earlier reaching its best since Nov. 29 at $1,289.92. U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,292.20 an ounce. The yellow metal has risen for a ninth straight day and is on track to register gains of over 1 percent this month and about 12 percent this year. "It´s the thin market and the dollar moving down that´s pushing up gold," said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "If the dollar continues to weaken, gold will be looking for $1,300 again." There could be some additional buying heading into resistance at that level, Leung said. The dollar was on the defensive on Thursday, facing headwinds from a dip in U.S. 10-year bond yields, while commodity-linked currencies were bolstered by this week´s rally in metal and oil prices.