Investing.com - Gold prices traded higher on Tuesday as a weaker dollar boosted demand for the precious metal.
At 11:10 AM ET (15:10 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded up $2.20, or 0.18%, to $1,219.90 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, dropped 0.25% to 94.95, breaking below the 95 psychological threshold and seeking to recover the more-than-one-year high of 95.44 reached in mid-July.
A weaker greenback makes the dollar-denominated metal more affordable for holders of other currencies, sparking demand from foreign investors.
Gold has fallen more than 10% since the year’s high on April 11, with market participants shunning the safe-haven metal despite concerns over trade war escalation.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve will push forward with rate hikes, with markets pricing in moves in both September and December, have supported the dollar and dampened bullish interest in the precious metal.
Higher interest rates tend to weigh on demand for gold, which doesn’t bear interest, in favor of yield-bearing assets.
In a thin week for economic data, the monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed that job openings edged forward in June to mark its third-highest level ever.
Although the reading was worse than expected, the data gave yet another sign of the solid U.S. labor market, lending support to the Fed’s plan for gradual rate hikes.
Investors will pay close attention to inflation data this week, with producer prices out on Thursday and the consumer price index at the end of the week.
Headline inflation is forecast to inch up to 3.0% while core inflation is expected to hold at 2.3%, above the Fed’s 2% objective.
In other metals trading, silver futures rose 0.34% at $15.400 a troy ounce by 11:11 AM ET (15:11 GMT).
Palladium futures gained 0.64% to $909.40 an ounce, while sister metal platinum advanced 0.63% at $831.50.
In base metals, copper traded up 0.97% to $2.758 a pound.