Gold eases marginally in early Asian trade, China watched

                Gold prices eased marginally in early Asian trade on Tuesday, continuing a decline from overnight on expectations the dollar will continue to make gains as the Federal Reserve looks to begin scaling back its monetary stimulus programs in the near future.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,281.00 a troy ounce, down 0.01%, in Asia.

Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,278.50 a troy ounce and high of USD1,288.40 a troy ounce on Monday in New York.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, far surpassing expectations for a 125,000 increase, bolstering the chances the Fed could start to trim its USD85 billion monthly bond buying program as early as December.

In Asia, attention was focused on any details from a meeting of senior Chinese leaders setting economic and social policies for the next decade, which is set to end Tuesday. A key outcome of the meeting for markets would be any timetable for full convertibility of the yuan.

China and India are the world's top importers of gold. India has recently moved to restrict imports because of current account concerns and the rupee is not fully convertible. But a fully-convertible yuan could pave the way for a significant increase in gold trade in China. - investing.com

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NYMEX crude falls in early Asia trade on profit taking

        Crude oil prices slipped in early Asian trade Tuesday, giving back some of the gains overnight after talks between Iran and Western failed to reach an agreement that could ease sanctions on crude exports.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD94.95 a barrel, down 0.20%, in Asia. The commodity hit a session low of USD94.12 and a high of USD95.38.

Trade sanctions slapped on Iran because of its alleged nuclear ambitions have taken out more than 1 million barrels per day of oil from the global market and were a centerpiece of weekend  talks among the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France and Iran.

In Asia on Tuesday, the focus is on any new policies announced in the energy sector following the conclusion of a meeting of Chinese leaders over the past several days held to set social and economic policy goals. Of particular interest is any timetable for full convertibility of the yuan and moves to open upstream oil and gas exploration to foreign investors.

On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery ended up 1.19 to $106.37 a barrel on Monday. - investing.com

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