Investing.com -- Following steady upward movement in Asian trading, gold futures reversed most of the gains in American trading on Wednesday afternoon before settling slightly higher.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery jumped $7.30, or 0.61% to $1,204.60 in late-afternoon trading. Gold prices hit an intraday high of $1,211.70 during European morning hours.
On Tuesday, gold dropped to $1,190 to reach a seven-week low, before settling at $1,197.30, down 0.29% or $3.50. Futures were likely to find support at $1,177.80, the low from January 5, and resistance at $1,215.30, the high from February 20.
In Asia, the price of gold futures soared as investors in China returned to markets after a week-long break for the Lunar New Year. China is the second-largest buyer of the precious metal in the world. Investors in Asia also scurried to gold after the dollar weakened slightly on Wednesday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.25 or 0.26% to 94.23.
Still, the dollar remained relatively unchanged after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen finished her second day before Congress during the first of two semi-annual Humphrey-Hawkins Testimonies she will make in 2015.
Unlike Yellen's appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, members of the House Financial Services Committee spent little time on Wednesday discussing monetary policy. When addressing a potential interest-rate hike, Yellen reiterated that the Fed could wait several additional meetings before raising rates.
A delay in raising interest-rates is often regarded as a positive sign for gold, as it lowers the price of holding onto the precious metal.
Meanwhile, silver futures for May delivery increased 0.31 or 1.94% to $16.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere on Comex, copper for May delivery rose 0.06 or 0.23% to $2.65 a pound.