Gold approaches $1,300 with ECB QE, Greece vote in focus

Investing.com - Gold extended gains to trade near the $1,300-level on Tuesday, as investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy meeting later this week to see if it would launch a government bond-buying program.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery jumped $13.90, or 1.09%, to trade at $1,290.80 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, after hitting a session high of $1,294.30.

A day earlier, gold tacked on $12.10, or 0.96%, to settle at $1,276.90.

Futures were likely to find support at $1,255.20, the low from January 16, and resistance at $1,297.60, the high from August 28.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery rose 15.3 cents, or 0.86%, to trade at $17.90 a troy ounce.

The euro remained under pressure amid mounting expectations that the ECB will embark on an outright quantitative easing program on Thursday, in a bid to stave off the threat of deflation in the euro area.

Uncertainty over the outcome of Greek elections, due to be held on Sunday, with anti-bailout party Syriza leading in the polls further boosted demand for safe haven assets.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for March delivery tumbled 4.7 cents, or 1.8%, to trade at $2.570 a pound, after data showed that China's economy grew at the slowest pace in 24 years last year.

Official data released earlier showed that China’s economy grew 7.4% in 2014 from a year earlier, below the government's official target of 7.5% and the slowest pace since 1990. It expanded 7.7% in 2013.

In the fourth quarter, China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.3%, beating expectations for 7.2% and holding steady from the prior quarter.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5% from a previous estimate of 3.8%, citing slowing economies in China, Russia, the euro zone and Japan.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.3% to 93.12.