Forexpros – Gold futures traded higher Tuesday, on renewed hopes for a second Greek bailout package, while markets await word from the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony on the state of the U.S. economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1751.05 a troy ounce during late U.S. trade surging higher by 1.52%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.55% to trade at USD1,712.65 a troy ounce, the lowest since January 26.
Futures were likely to find support at USD1,703.35 a troy ounce, the low from January 26 and resistance at USD1,740.45, Monday’s high.
Gold prices turned higher on a report that Greece’s government was preparing the final draft of an agreement on a EUR130 billion bailout package for approval by Greek officials.
European Union officials have said a final agreement on Greece’s EUR130 billion bailout much be approved by February 15, in order to avert a default when a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment comes due on March 20.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.67% to trade at 78.66.
Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Meanwhile, investors await the outcome of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the Senate Budget Committee in Washington.
Traders will pay close attention to the Chairman’s testimony for hints on future monetary easing in response to the strong employment numbers Friday
In testimony to the House Budget Committee in Washington last Thursday, Bernanke said the economy has shown “signs of improvement” but warned that the outlook remained “uncertain”.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery advanced 1.53% to trade at USD34.27 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery slipped 0.03% to trade at USD3.86 a pound.
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