Gold gains in early Asia with U.S. demand eyed ahead of holidays

Investing.com - Gold prices rose in early Asia on Wednesday with investors focused on U.S. demand ahead of the start of the busy Christmas shopping season this week.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at $1,201.40 a troy ounce, up 0.07%, after hitting an overnight session low of $1,190.60 and off a high of $1,203.00.

Overnight, gold prices posted cautious gains in U.S. trading on Tuesday after a soft report on U.S. consumer confidence weakened the dollar, though a robust economic growth report capped the precious metal's gains.

The Conference Board market research group reported earlier that consumer confidence index fell to 88.7 this month from a 94.1 in October, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported 94.5.

Analysts expected the index to increase to 95.9 in November, and the surprise deterioration sent investors selling the greenback for profits, wiping out recent gains stemming from expectations for U.S. monetary policy to diverge from Europe and Asia.

The Present Situation Index declined from 94.4 to 91.3, while the Expectations Index decreased sharply to 87.0 from 93.8 in October.

Earlier Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter, topping expectations for a reading of 3.3%.

Preliminary data initially pegged U.S. growth at 3.5% in the third quarter. The U.S. economy expanded by 4.6% in the preceding quarter.

The data showed personal consumption rose 2.2% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 1.9% gain and up from a preliminary estimate of 1.8%.

Consumer spending typically accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic growth.

Tuesday's mixed data sent the greenback falling on profit taking.

The dollar has rallied in recent weeks while gold has slumped on expectations for U.S. monetary policy to grow less accommodative while European and Asian central banks move in the opposite direction.

Silver futures for March delivery held flat at $16.703 a troy ounce. Copper futures for March delivery fell 0.17% at $2.962 a pound.