Investing.com - Gold futures rose on Wednesday on safe-haven demand after weak U.S. indicators sent U.S. stocks and the dollar dropping earlier.
Gold and the dollar tend to trade inversely with one another, while the yellow metal often enjoys safe-harbor demand amid times of dropping stock indices.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at 1,245.90 a troy ounce, up 0.94%, up from a session low of $1,222.20 and off a high of $1,250.00.
The December contract settled up 0.35% at $1,234.30 on Tuesday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,217.60 a troy ounce, last Friday's low, and resistance at $1,272.60, the high from Sept. 8.
The Census Bureau reported earlier that U.S. retail sales fell 0.3% last month, exceeding forecasts for a 0.1% decline, after expanding 0.6% in August.
Core retail sales, which exclude motor vehicles and parts, dropped 0.2% in September, defying expectations for a 0.3% gain, after rising 0.3% the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer price inflation slipped 0.1% in September, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a flat reading in August.
September's year-on-year PPI rose 1.6%, missing expectations for a 1.8% gain.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve of New York reported that its manufacturing index tumbled to a six-month low of 6.2 in October from 27.5 in September. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 25.5 this month.
Wednesday's data sent investors rethinking how fast the Federal Reserve will move to tighten policy in 2015, which battered the dollar and gave gold room to rise in a rally fueled further by falling stock indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 450 points in afternoon trading after Wednesday's data spooked investors.
News a second healthcare worker at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola and had flown a day before reporting symptoms also sent investors ditching equities.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery was up 0.17% at $17.432 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery were down 2.87% at $3.001 a pound.