Gold was little changed early Tuesday, taking a breather after yesterday`s heavy losses that saw the metal post its worst loss in nearly seven months.
Bullion traders back on the sidelines again after yesterday`s gloomy trade, with price holding near the lowest level in four months, while the rebound in global stocks continued to weigh on the precious metal, dampening demand for gold as an alternative investment.
As of 04:03 a.m. ET, Spot Gold was up 0.22% at $1,309.02 an ounce. The metal halted its sharpest intraday slide since December before the opening in Europe, where prices traded flate in rangbound between $1,305.68 and $1,310.19.
Among other precious metals:
- Spot Silver rose 0.20% to $20.94 an ounce
- Spot Platinum rose 0.49% to $1,497.50 an ounce
- Spot Palladium rose 0.09% to $872.10 an ounce
Later today, traders will be watching Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as she delivers her semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Senate Banking Committee.
Yellen might be giving clues about the US economy and the timing of expected US central bank interest rate hikes.
The dollar rose slightly against a six-currency basket after yesterday`s slide. The USDIX was up around 80.19 compared with the day`s open at 80.16.
Meanwhile, traders are keeping an on the geopolitical tensions from the Middle East, especailly between Israel and Hamas, which might boost back demand for the yellow metal`s safe-haven appeal.
Israel has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Hamas. But hope of seeing an end to Israeli offensive looked very little looked very little with the militant group rejecting the gesture outright.
One week of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and the death toll has reached 194 with at least 1,400 thousand wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.