NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - COMEX gold dipped in thin choppy trade early Tuesday as bulls scooped some of their considerable 2002 winnings off the table before an early close for the last trading session of the year.
Metals floor trade at the NYMEX and its COMEX division will close from 1200 to 1210 EST Tuesday. Financial markets will be closed Wednesday for New Year's Day, reopening Thursday.
"I'm assuming it's some final end-of-year squaring off. There are plenty of longs out there," said a floor broker.
"It's like basically vacuum trading," he added. "The dollar is up a little bit. That could be a factor."
Even with profit-taking this week, gold futures are up more than 20 percent this year. Viewed as a safe harbor, gold was a darling of financial markets dogged by a year of dollar weakness, jitters about war, terrorism and recession which facilitated the first three-year bear market on Wall Street in six decades.
At 0911 EST, February gold was down $2.10 at $342 an ounce, before it bounced back to stretch the top of its $341.70-$346 trading range. It went down $5.60 Monday on profit-taking.
"A bit of fund buying came in and 'vroom.' It's very thin and very volatile," said Ian MacDonald, head of bullion dealing at Commerzbank.
Spot gold was quoted at $344.00/5.60, up from New York's close Monday at $343.50/4.10. In London, banks closed early Tuesday and fixed bullion for the day at $342.75.
March silver was an even bigger mover and was up 6.2 cents at $4.735 an ounce, trading $4.65-$4.75. Spot silver was at $4.71/73, up from $4.65/67 late Monday. Tuesday's fix was $4.665.
NYMEX April platinum was up $3.50 at $595 an ounce. Spot platinum hit $598/603.
NYMEX March palladium was off $1 at $238 an ounce. Spot palladium traded at $234/242.