Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Gold was little changed above $800 an ounce in Asia on speculation rising food and energy prices will prompt increased buying of the metal as a hedge against inflation.

A report today may show inflation in Hong Kong rose to a nine-year high last month. Malaysian prices gained at the quickest pace in nine months in November, according to data yesterday. The dollar, which often trades inversely to gold, was little changed today after rising to a two-month high against the euro yesterday.

``We are getting that inflation feeling in the market,'' said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney. Gold ``is still holding up, regardless of what's happening with the dollar,'' he said.

The precious metal traded at $801.10 an ounce at 12:43 p.m. in Singapore after declining 0.1 percent. Silver fell 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $14.11 an ounce.

Hong Kong's inflation probably rose 3.4 percent in November from a year earlier, after gaining 3.2 percent in October, according to the median estimate of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The figure will be released at 4.15 p.m. local time.

Consumer prices in Malaysia rose 2.3 percent last month from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said yesterday. That was ahead of an average of economists' forecasts for a gain of 2 percent, and October's figure of 1.9 percent.

`Inflation Worries'

``Inflation worries may be a factor but, to be honest, historically the link between inflation and gold prices is inconsistent,'' said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``Over the next couple of months, the price of gold could be volatile.''

February-delivery gold was little changed at $805.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:30 p.m. in Singapore, after falling 0.3 percent yesterday.

In Japan, the most active gold futures contract was little changed at 2,938 yen a gram ($807 an ounce) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Gold holding above $800, even as the British pound dropped to a three-month low versus the dollar yesterday, demonstrated the strength of underlying demand, Commodity Broking's Barratt said.

Investors are focusing more on inflation, particularly in China, and gold's next move should be higher, as long as prices can remain above $795 during the Christmas holiday period, he said.

``If it breaks $813, people will add to their positions and we could get to $840,'' Barratt said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 20, 2007 00:08 EST