Gold rose on Tuesday, despite the rise in equities, as the dollar sipped and on strong buying from China, the world’s biggest buyer for the metal.
The precious metal hit a high of $1246.18 an ounce, while currently trading around $1242.40 from the opening at $1232.04.
The dollar index, which tracks the green currency’s movements versus a basket of major currencies, slipped for a third straight session to hover around 94.34.
New York Fed President William Dudley described U.S. economic conditions as “mostly favourable”, yet said the Fed prefers more cautious approach in hiking interest rates due to the global risks.
On the other hand, Fed Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said on Monday he saw “much healthier U.S. economy” compared to the financial markets’ dovish view.
Investors will keep tracking comments from fed officials this week to get clues about the interest rate increase path this year.
Analysts predict the Fed may begin raising interest rates in June, while the second hike may take place at the end of the year.
Later in the day, U.S. data may signal a retreat in housing starts to 1.17 million in March from a prior of 1.18 million in February. Yet, building permits may show a rise to 1.20 million from 1.18.
Silver also climbed 3 percent to its highest in more than 10 months on Tuesday, where the gain in Asian shares did not weigh on the metal, mainly seen as safe haven assets.
China launched a new yuan-denominated gold benchmark on Tuesday in an attempt to have more dominance over the pricing of the metal.
