* Early surveys suggest Remain vote for Britain
* U.S. dollar, British sterling fall
By Marcy Nicholson
NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Thursday,
having initially inched down to a two-week low after the voting
of Britain's referendum on EU membership closed and early
surveys suggested voters had chosen to remain in the bloc.
Britons voted in the referendum that has divided the nation.
The polls closed at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), with results expected
early on Friday.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.3 pct at $1,258.96 an ounce by
7:07 p.m. EDT (2307 GMT), after falling to $1,251.16, the lowest
since June 8.
Trading resumed at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on Thursday.
"Gold has resumed its slide on the open as the YouGov poll
indicated a 52-48 Remain advantage," said Tai Wong, director of
base and precious metals trading for BMO Capital Markets in New
York, when prices were lower.
"Also UKIP's Nigel Farage, arguably the doyen of Brexit,
seems to have conceded a Remain win."
Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and a
leading voice in favor of leaving the EU, told Sky News he did
not expect to be on the winning side.
The campaign to keep Britain in the European Union appears
to be ahead in the EU membership referendum, according to
polling firm YouGov which surveyed people about how they voted,
Sky News reported.
Gold is often perceived as a hedge against economic and
financial uncertainty.
"It's probably not the best thing for gold. We don't expect
a full-out rout but we have to be mindful that the spec net
positions are pretty elevated, so we are pretty net long right
now," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy for TD
Securities in Toronto.
"There is a danger out there that we will over correct or
have some of those longs get out of their positions and new
shorts being built up."
The U.S. dollar .DXY was down 0.3 percent while sterling
GBP= fell around 0.4 percent.
On Wednesday, investors piled on near-term bullish and
bearish options bets, racing to protect against price swings
during Britain's vote, data showed.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= rose 0.16 pct at
$17.3 an ounce and platinum XPT= was flat at $960. Palladium
rose 0.23 pct at $565.30 an ounce.