Investing.com - Gold prices firmed near the highest level in more than two weeks on Wednesday, as market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the session for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The U.S. was to publish data on durable goods orders for February later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery inched up 90 cents, or 0.08%, to trade at $1,192.30 a troy ounce during European morning hours. Prices held in a range between $1,186.30 and $1,193.30.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,167.90, the low from March 20, and resistance at $1,200.00, the high from March 6.
A day earlier, gold touched $1,194.50, the most since March 6, before closing at $1,191.40, up $3.70, or 0.31%, the fifth consecutive daily gain.
Data on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2% last month, in line with market expectations. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs was up 1.7% from the same month last year, the largest increase since November.
A separate report showed that U.S. new home sales jumped 7.8% to an annual unit rate of 539,000 last month, the highest level since February 2008.
In addition, the preliminary reading of the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 55.3 this month, the highest level since October, from 55.1 in February.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.3% to 97.14 early on Wednesday. The index is down nearly 4% since hitting a 12-year high of 100.78 on March 13.
The greenback remained under pressure amid uncertainty over the path of U.S. monetary policy after the Federal Reserve downgraded its forecasts for growth and inflation and lowered its interest rate projections last week.
Gold fell to a four-month low of $1,141.60 on March 17 amid concerns that the Fed will start raising rates as early as in June, before rallying more than 4% after the Fed projected a slower pace of rate hikes.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery dipped 0.5 cents, or 0.03%, to trade at $16.97 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery shed 1.5 cents, or 0.52%, to trade at $2.789 a pound.