On Wednesday gold maintained gains from a two-day rally to reach a three-week peak as more soft US economic data hurt the dollar and undermined hopes for a US Federal Reserve rate hike in June.
Spot
gold was steady at $1,210/oz by 3.25am GMT, after gaining nearly 3% in
the past two sessions. The yellow metal had risen to $1,215 on Tuesday, its
highest since April 7.
Recently, the gold has been pushed higher after a run of data, including US consumer confidence data released on Tuesday, hinted at slowing momentum in the US economy.
The data, ahead of a statement from the Federal open market committee (FOMC) due on Wednesday after its two-day policy meeting, sparked expectation the US central bank would delay an interest rate hike to later this year.
The yellow metal could see more volatility ahead of the statement.
"The statement is expected to be dovish," ANZ analysts said in a note. "Since the FOMC last met in mid-March, US data have been mostly soft, confirming the weak start to the year."
In China, the second-biggest gold consumer, premiums eased to about $1/oz on Wednesday over the global benchmark, from $2-$3 in the previous session.
Other data this week on China have also not been
encouraging.
In March China’s gold imports from Hong Kong dropped to their lowest level in seven months. Weak demand for jewellery, coins and bars in the key Chinese market helped drive a 9% fall in global physical gold buying in the first quarter, an industry report showed.
Silver was down 2c or 0.12% at $16.57, platinum was up 65c or 0.06% at $1,153.7 and palladium fell $1.72 or 0.22% to $773.98.
