Gold Little Changed Near 3-week High with Bernanke in focus

[harreymartin]

Gold futures were little changed near a three-week high on Tuesday, as investors stuck to the sidelines ahead of testimony to Congress by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,280.95 a troy ounce during European morning hours, down 0.2% on the day.

Comex gold prices held in a tight range between USD1,275.95, the daily low and a session high of USD1,283.85 a troy ounce.

Comex gold prices rose to a three-week high of USD1,297.05 a troy ounce on July 11.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,237.05 a troy ounce, the low from July 8 and near-term resistance at USD1,301.75, the high from June 21.

Market participants were looking to Bernanke's testimony on monetary policy for further clues on the future of U.S. monetary policy.

Gold prices rallied 5% last week, the biggest weekly gain since October 2011, after Bernanke said the central bank will continue to maintain accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future.

Investors now looked ahead to the release of U.S. data on consumer price inflation and a report on industrial production.

Data on Monday showed that U.S. retail sales rose less-than-expected June, fuelling fears over a slowdown in the economic recovery.

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The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in June, slowing from a 0.5% increase in May and undershooting expectations for a 0.8% increase.

However, a separate report showed that the Empire State manufacturing index rose to a five-month high of 9.5 in July from 7.8 in June. Economists had forecast a reading of 5.0.