Investing.com – Gold prices rose modestly on Tuesday as buyers returned amid continued dollar weakness continued.
Gold futures for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $9.10, or 0.71%, to $1,287.90 troy ounce.
Gold futures rose above three-week highs as the dollar struggled to hold gains amid a lack of top-tier economic data and lighter trading volumes.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.1% to 92.79.
Gold’s bullish start to the week comes as data showed traders increased their bullish bets on the previous metal last week.
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday reported that hedge funds and money managers had increased their net long stance in gold in the week ended Dec. 19 to 113,800, up 6,700 or 6 .3% from last week's twenty-week low.
Gold notched a second-straight weekly gain last week, closing above its 200-day moving average, a key technical indicator, in a sign of bullish momentum.
Goldman Sachs, however, warned recently that it expects gold prices to slide to around $1,200 a troy ounce in the middle of 2018 as general marketplace fears subside, but then to rise to $1,375 by the end of 2020 as demand from emerging-market nations grows.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.80% to $16.58 a troy ounce, while platinum futures gained 0.13% to $926.90.
Copper traded at $3.28, up 1.13%, while natural gas rose 0.79% to $2.68.