Gold bullion ended at $293.30/80 per ounce on last Friday compared to New York's previous close at $293.90/294.40 on Thursday.

"Gold's movement has been tied to the dollar/yen rate. It went up and dragged gold down. There also was some selling by Australian producers," a Singapore trader said.

He said sentiment was "cautiously bullish" adding that recent short-covering had also convinced some investors who were undecided about gold to take long positions.

A short-covering rally by the US funds has helped to lift gold to 11-week highs, and traders said there is potentially more technically inspired buying that could push gold to $295-296.

"It all depends on the funds, on the shorts and on the dollar," a Hong Kong trader said.

The dollar strengthened against the yen after Japan's gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter of1998 came in below the market's expectations.

In Tokyo gold futures ended mixed. Traders said futures were supported by the dollar's rebound against the yen but capped by a perception that bullion may have gained as much as it can in the short term.

Spot silver ended at $5.31/34 an ounce after closing in New York at $5.34/36 on Thursday. Local tael gold ended HK$3 up at HK$2,704.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was nil, up from its previous fix at -3.10.