Gold Prices Eye $1,300 as Dollar Weakness Continues

Investing.com – Gold prices continued to edge higher on Wednesday as the dollar struggled to pare losses amid consumer sentiment data that missed expectations.

for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $3, or 0.24%, to $1,290.60 troy ounce.

Gold futures remained close to four-week highs as the dollar continued to trend lower after a mixed bag of economic data failed to lift sentiment on the greenback amid light trading volumes.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.1% to 92.79.

were mostly unchanged in November, rising by 0.2% month-on-month, according to the National Association of Realtors. That topped expectations for a 0.4% decline.

The fell to 122.1 in December from a revised reading of 128.6 in November, missing economists’ forecast for a reading of 128.

Gold’s bullish start to the week comes as data showed the 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.

In other precious metal trade, rose 0.97% to $16.77 a troy ounce, while gained 0.04% to $927.90.

traded at $3.28, up 0.05%, while rose 2.90% to $2.73.