Gold futures settled higher Tuesday, marking a third straight session of gains, as investors digested economic data suggesting the U.S. economy remains healthy with low inflation, while waiting for a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates due Wednesday.
August gold on Comex GCQ19, -1.14% added $9.30, or 0.7%, to finish at $1,429.70 an ounce, after gaining 0.1% a day ago. The metal marked its third straight climb, representing its longest such streak since a four-session advance ended June 25, according to FactSet data.
Chintan Karnani, chief market analyst at Insignia Consultants, said a key resistance level for gold - one that it has struggled to extend firmly above - stands at $1430.80 an ounce. "Gold needs to trade over $1430.80 for the rest of the day to rise to $1442.30 and $1452.70," he wrote in a Tuesday research note. Gold's most-active December contract GCZ19, -1.19% added $8.50, or 0.6%, to end at $1,441.80 an ounce.
Meanwhile, September silver SIU19, -1.31% gained 11.8 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $16.558 an ounce.
U.S. personal-consumption expenditures, a measure of household spending, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in June from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
The report showed inflation, a key measure of economic health for the Fed, was muted. The personal-consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 0.1% in June and was up 1.4% from a year earlier.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to cut rates by at least 25 basis points at the conclusion of its two-day policy gathering on Wednesday.
The yellow metal has benefited from hope that the FOMC will reduce benchmark borrowing costs and signal a willingness to do what it takes to sustain U.S. economic expansion in a record-setting 11th year of expansion.
Elsewhere on Comex, September copper HGU19, -0.34% shed 3.9 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.6785 a pound, after a sharp gain on Monday. October platinum PLV19, -1.75% fell $9.30, or 1.1%, to finish at $872.60 an ounce. September palladium PAU19, -0.42% tumbled $44.70, or 2.9%, to $1,509.10 an ounce, more than erasing a 1.5% gain a day ago. The decline for platinum was the sharpest daily fall in about two weeks.