Investing.com - Gold prices gained in Asia Wednesday as weak prices data out of China highlighted prospects for continued easy monetary policies.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery rose 0.62% to $1,172.60 a troy ounce, while silver futures for December delivery gained 0.46% to $15.980 a troy ounce.
Copper for December delivery rose 0.33% to 2.388 a pound.
China said consumer prices gained 1.6% in September, a slower pace than the 1.8% gain seen, while producer prices fell at the 5.9% pace expected
In early Asia, the Westpac consumer sentiment survey rose 4.2% to 97.8, compared to an expected 3.0% gain, as a change in government leadership aided upbeat views.
In Japan, the corporate goods prices index fell 3.9%, matching expectations.
Overnight, gold futures were relatively unchanged on Tuesday amid a flat dollar, as widespread concerns related to economic growth in China and the timing of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve remained in focus.
In a speech at the National Association for Business Economics annual conference on Tuesday morning, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president James Bullard stood firm on his position that economic conditions nationwide are strong enough to allow the Federal Open Market Committee to approve an initial rate hike. While Bullard noted that liftoff is appropriate despite a litany of challenges, he emphasized that the challenges are not robust enough to guide policy decisions. In addition, Bullard argued that strict inflation targeting should not compel the Fed to hold rates at a zero-bound range, even if the U.S. central bank doesn't hit its 2% target in the near future.
Shortly after the FOMC voted to hold rates at its current near-zero level last month, Bullard asserted he would have voted against the decision in a scathing dissent.
Gold is not attached to interest rates and struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in rising rate environments.
Investors also continued to digest relatively hawkish comments from a host of central bankers over the weekend at the International Monetary Fund's Annual Meeting in Lima, urging the Fed to stop putting off an initial rate hike. Central bankers from two Emerging Markets in Asia believe a rate hike will reduce uncertainty in global foreign exchange markets, while Germany finance minister Jens Weidmann contends that a rate increase will lead to a stronger global economy. Days earlier, Weidmann told German newspaper Die Welt that conditions responsible for causing adverse effects to the global economy can intensify when "interest rates remain persistently low."