Gold prices hit a one-week high on Tuesday, helped by a weaker US dollar as markets awaited comments from Federal Reserve officials for clues on future interest rates.
The dollar has been weakening on profit-taking after strong gains last week, making gold more attractive to buyers using other currencies.
Kyle Rodda, a financial markets analyst at Capital.com, sees the recent moves in the market as being technical in nature due to the dollar reaching a buying peak.
The strong economic data has raised concerns about whether the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates after 75 basis points of cuts since September.
Central bank officials are expected to make several statements this week, which could affect expectations for the December meeting.
Traders currently see a 58.8% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in December, versus a 41.2% chance of keeping it unchanged.
On the geopolitical front, Russia launched its largest airstrike on Ukraine in three months, targeting the Ukrainian energy grid, adding to the geopolitical uncertainty.
Price movements
By 02:46 GMT, spot gold was up 0.4% at $2,623.54 an ounce, its highest since Nov. 12. Prices also rose 2% yesterday.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,627.60 an ounce.
In addition to gold, other precious metals rose, with silver hitting a one-week high, up 0.5% to $31.32 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.3% to $969.80. Palladium was steady at $1,005.20 after rising more than 5% yesterday.
