Gold eases after sharp jump, still near 3-week high

Reuters, (13/8) SINGAPORE - Gold slipped on Tuesday after posting sharp gains in the previous session but was still near three-week highs on hopes that physical buyers and investors will return to the market. Spot gold eased 0.2 percent to $1,332.56 an ounce by 0023 GMT, not far from a three-week high of $1,343.06. Gold rose nearly 2 percent on Monday on strong Chinese gold consumption and an inflow to gold-backed exchange-traded funds. China's gold consumption surged in the first six months of the year as sliding prices of the metal lured buyers, data showed, reinforcing expectations that the nation will overtake India as the world's top gold consumer this year.