Investing.com - Gold futures came off the highest levels of the session on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved unexpectedly in August to hit the highest level since October 2007.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery rose 0.48%, or $6.10, to trade at $1,284.70 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours.
Gold prices rose to a session high of $1,291.70 an ounce earlier. Futures were likely to find support at $1,273.40, the low from August 21 and resistance at $1,299.30, the high from August 20.
The Conference Board, a market research group said its index of U.S. consumer confidence rose to 92.4 this month from a reading of 90.3 in July. Analysts expected the index to decline to 89.0 in August.
The robust consumer confidence report came after data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, surged by 22.6% last month, blowing past expectations for an increase of 7.5%.
However, core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, eased down by 0.8% in July, missing forecasts for a 0.5% gain. The data painted a mixed picture of the U.S. economy.
Gold prices hit a nine-week low of $1,273.40 on August 21 as market players priced in a greater risk of a sooner-than-expected hike in U.S. interest rates.
Meanwhile, market players awaited updates from a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko later in the day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko for the first time in months in Belarus's capital of Minsk later Tuesday, in hopes of reaching a ceasefire or a political solution to the four-month old conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Also on the Comex, silver for December delivery advanced 0.63%, or 12.2 cents, to trade at $19.55 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery shed 0.3%, or 1.0 cents, to trade at $3.227 a pound.